Dragon Age: Blood Ties
by Aianna Dayes
Summary: Aianna Dayes, an elven mage, & Daralis Dayes, a bastard noble, though sisters, have very different outlooks. Join them in their travels across Thedas, from escaping the Tower, to escaping betrayal.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Elves, Rogues, Mages Oh My!

9:34 Dragon – Inner City of Highever

The conversation in the noisy tavern came to an abrupt halt as the front door pushed open and two hooded figures stepped inside from the cold night. The first figure was dressed in leather armor and a short blue cloak, with two finely crafted swords strapped to its back. The second figure was nearly a head shorter than the first, and dressed in short blue robes with white trim, with chainmail fitted around the torso. Both figures had a hand stitched white griffon embroidered on the fabric of their right shoulders.

Drunken patrons eyed the figures as they walked past to the furthest corner of the tavern. The taller figure raised their hand to the bartender before taking a seat against the wall in the far back. The figure pulled the blue cloak off to reveal a young human woman with a striking beauty that a few men in the tavern could not help but gasp at before returning to their drinks. Her hair was dark brown pulled back into a neat ponytail and her eyes were the color of a rare blue gem that changed colors with the light.

The smaller figure took a seat across from the woman, setting a heavy sack on the table and propping a red staff against the seat where the figure sat. As conversation began to establish itself once again around the bar, the barman approached the two. He carried two pints of ale in one hand and a plate of sliced bread in the other. The smaller figure removed their own hood and an elf as beautiful as the human woman smiled at the barman. The left side of her face was tattooed in a tribal design that completed her powerful, yet gracious, magnificence. The human woman rolled her eyes at one of the nearly passed out patrons at the bar when he whistled at her; when she reached for one of the swords on her back, the customer quickly averted his eyes from the stunning woman.

"We don't serve elves here," The barman groaned to the human woman in an irritable tone; shaking his head in annoyance. "Tell your elf to wait outside until you're done." Anger flashed across the elf girl's face, but was quickly replaced with a snide grin as the human girl swiftly grabbed the barman's collar tightly, pulling him down to her level. The strong and surprising grip from her forced a groan from his lips.

"First off she is not **my **elf…" The woman hissed into his ear. The human woman nodded her head to the elf and she leapt to her feet. The elf took the pints from the man's hand, as the human girl swiftly smashed the man's head against the table. "Second, if you don't serve elves here; put a sign outside." The plate of bread fell to the floor and the tavern fell silent once again.

"Third," the elf girl spoke shoving a few coins into the man's hand. "My coin is as good as anyone else's. Now bring us a clean loaf and if it even smells of anything but yeast I will gut you like the pig you are." The human girl released the barman and he stumbled to the floor. Quickly picking up the fallen bread and plate he scurried off of to the bar and chatter returned to normal.

"Men," the elf girl muttered, taking a pint of ale in her hand. "Why must there always be resistance in every decent tavern we go into? For the love of the Maker, why must it matter if I am an elf or not?" The elf girl sipped her ale slowly, scowling at the wall.

"Now, now, Aianna." The human girl reached into their large sack and pulled out a pink cookie and broke it in half. She reached out one half to the elf, Aianna, offering it to her as an _I'm sorry_ gesture. Aianna shook her head in refusal waiting on the sour bread to go with her ale. "Suit yourself." The woman shrugged as she bit into her half of the cookie.

"Honestly Daralis," Aianna asked, reaching into her robes and pulling out a small wood pipe and a small leather pouch of tobacco. "Do you enjoy being such a prude?" She smiled, stuffing a small pouch of the dried leaves into the pipe and lit it with a match she slid across the stone wall.

"I am not a prude!" Daralis gasped waving away the smoke from Aianna's pipe. She frowned slightly as the barman returned, setting the plate of fresh sour bread between the women. He stared at the griffon emblem on Daralis's right shoulder. Before turning quietly he noticed inside Aianna's right wrist was the same but smaller two headed griffon tattoo.

"Shit…" the barman muttered under his breath. "You's them Grey Wardens supposed to be stayin' here tonight? I am so sorry…" Aianna looked over at the man, her eyes fixed to his. She inhaled from her pipe and blew smoke into the man's face. The barman waved the smoke from his face coughing slightly and Aianna laughed vindictively.

"Amazing what skills of observation can do for a person, right sister?" Aianna smiled, leaning back in her seat and taking another sip of ale. Daralis snickered, nodding in agreement, finally grasping her own pint and taking a small sip. Aianna waved the barman away as she turned to back to Daralis.

"So Sister," Aianna began licking her lips as she applied more tobacco to her pipe. "What's this contact we are supposed to be meeting that your lovely king told us to meet here?" She snickered as she puffed at her pipe.

"His highness didn't give many specifics to me or Master Nathaniel; only that we would be contacted by our guide." Daralis sighed opening the deer hide map of Ferelden the King had given to her. Pretending to glance over the map her mind wandered to the king's smile. His smile suited his kindness and awkward nature that Daralis found sweet; even somewhat endearing to say the least.

Aianna eyed her sister curiously, puffing her pipe in anticipation of her to continue on with details. "You're blushing, Daralis." She sighed shaking her head in disbelief of her own little sister's childish behavior. "Sometimes men do not know what they want until a woman presents them with options…" Daralis snapped back to the reality of her elf sister's mocking and the shady pub they sat in.

"I-I am not, Aianna!" Daralis panicked and stuffed the map back into their large pack. She frantically grabbed her mug of ale and took a long sip to cover her face. Aianna laughed herself to near tears, before wiping the water from her eyes and sighing deeply to regain her composure. "Why must you tease me, sister?"

"Because teasing you about your lacking of experience makes **me** laugh, sister." Aianna spoke mockingly tugging at the collar of the Grey Warden robes she wore. The breast plate and high neck made the elf feel as if the garments were choking her. "But back to my original point," she continued, returning to her pipe. "Did your king say nothing of even what he wants us to do but wait on this contact for instructions?"

"Correct," Daralis nodded, ignoring her sister's comment, and regaining her calm demeanor she normally carried herself with. She was accustomed to overcoming Aianna's taunts and teasing quickly. The bar became quiet at the sound of a minstrel playing began and a woman's voice began to sing.

"Wow," Aianna shook her head in annoyance before holding her hand up to a waitress for another mug of ale. "I don't do lack of details Daralis, even if he is your king." A waitress walked by quickly setting a fresh mug of ale in front of Aianna and taking the few small coins that sat next to the old mug. "I just hope that this isn't some kind of trap." Daralis rolled her eyes as she ate another piece of the strawberry cookie.

The two sat in silence as time passed slowly by. Aianna eventually pulled a thick leather-bound tome from their sack. She began to read the tome quietly as she continued to enjoy her smoke and ale through the evening. Daralis watched the pub as the night went on, more patrons leaving than entering. Hours passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened besides Aianna becoming slightly intoxicated. But that was nothing but normal to Daralis.

Morning drew close and eventually the two sisters took a single room upstairs. They slept in shifts throughout the day, and as evening approached Aianna left to walk the streets of Highever while Daralis remained at the pub. The atmosphere of the pub that evening was no different than the night before when they had arrived. Daralis grew exceedingly restless, with no sign of any contact; no sign of much of anything for that matter.

Between Aianna's constant annoyances and patrons of the pub becoming uneasy; Daralis found herself at a standstill. For the last three evenings she and Aianna waited over and over in the same back table in this backend establishment. When the second evening came to an end and day break broke, the little bit of patience that Aianna had was nearly gone. On the third evening the young elf no longer had any desire to read or drink but to find this contact.

"I am going to burn this place down…" Aianna muttered into her hands as she leaned against the table with her face in her palms. "I hate this waiting…I hate Highever, and I hate this pub…."she continued to groan, rocking impatiently in her seat. Daralis took some joy in watching her older sister suffer from boredom though she too was beginning to worry.

"We must wait, Aia." Daralis spoke firmly looking around the pub. Aianna laid her face into the table with a big sigh. "Come on; sit up like a normal person, not a brooding child." Daralis smacked Aianna's head slightly and she unwillingly sat up.

"Why must you be such a stiff sometimes?" Aianna sighed looking around the pub with her sister. Three unfamiliar men walked into the pub dressed in similar finely made armor. The largest of the men walked directly to the barman that Daralis had dealt with their first evening. They spoke a few moments then the barman pointed at Aianna's direction. "Shit…" Aianna muttered lowering her head.

"What?" Daralis asked seeing the men walking towards them. The leader was an older man with dark brown hair with bits of grey around his ears. The older man's expression was neither friendly nor enduring but like a wolf gaining on his kill.

"Well, well, Aianna Dayes my dear sweet elf," he spoke with a grin on his face as he and the other two men approached closer. "Did you forget about your old friend Alfred from Denerim?" Aianna turned to him with eyes narrowed and brows scrunched down.

"Alfred," Aianna cracked a fake smile. "What brings you to the squalor of Highever's underworld?" Daralis raised an eyebrow to her sister as the men surrounded the open end of the table.

"Just your pretty little face, Aianna." Alfred smiled slowly leaning over the table and softly touching Aianna's cheek. She quickly pulled away from his fingers ready to bite them if they ventured too close. "Oh, and also the coin you owe me from that last job we did for you."

"You got your cut Alfred," Aianna rolled her eyes to him and then shot a glance to Daralis. "It's not my fault the profit was higher than I anticipated." Alfred touched a lock of Aianna's long black hair, thumbing the lock for a few seconds until she pulled away.

"I know that, but you are a reasonable woman Aianna." Alfred leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Well, as reasonable as an elf can be. I'd hate to see something happen to that beautiful mother of yours." As the words left Alfred's lips Aianna rose to her feet and held out her right hand quickly. A force pushed Alfred backward, throwing him across the pub. His limp body crashed into the bar and he let out a scream on impact. People in the pub let out shrieks of horror and some scurried for the door while others hid under tables.

"The elf is a mage!" someone cried out over the commotion and Aianna smiled turning to the two henchmen. The energy that pulsed through her body gave her a rush of intoxication that one might call bloodlust. Her lips formed a sinister grin as her hands flickered with small bursts of electricity.

"Once again, people's skills of observation amaze even me, sister." Daralis quietly remarked also rising to her feet and drawing her blades.

One of Alfred's men on the left pulled out a dagger from his belt, but stopped suddenly, looking down to his chest. Daralis had stabbed him clean through with her own dagger. The third man panicked and fell backward, running to the door. A dagger from the opposite side of the bar landed in his back. The man flailed wildly trying to pull the dagger from his back before collapsing lifelessly to the floor. Aianna turned to Daralis in confusion and she shook her head to gesture she did not throw the dagger.

"What in the Maker's name was that?" Daralis screamed toward Aianna sheathing her swords behind her back as the pub began to empty out. "What was it this time Aianna? Smugglers? Lyrium? What?" Daralis frantically scooped up their sack and Aianna's staff. "The city guard will be here any moment!"

"Oh, like they will actually arrest us? The bastard sister to Teryn Fergus Cousland to be thrown into the gallows over a pub brawl? Absolutely not." Aianna sighed, taking her staff from Daralis and securing it to her back. "At least we don't have to wait any longer." The mage snickered to herself as the two made their way to the open door.

"Shut up Aian…" Daralis groaned and Aianna continued to laugh.

"That was an excellent display of skills, yes?" A voice came from behind them and the two women stopped and turned around. The empty pub was now dark and seemed completely empty. Aianna held out her right hand and fire manifested from her fingertips to light the room before them. "I see that the famous sisters of the Grey reputation precedes you both well." The voice continued as an elf emerged from the shadows. He had a strange tattoo on the left side of his face.

"Who in the Black City are you?" Aianna asked closing her hand and the fire went out. She knew an Antivan accent when she heard one, and she did not like Antivans at all. The elf smiled walking up to the corpse of Alfred's henchmen killed by the unknown dagger. He pulled the dagger from his back and tucked into his belt.

"Ah yes, forgive me." The elf cleared his throat and bowed slightly to them. "I am Zevran Arainai at your service my dear lady." He smiled sensually at Aianna. "So according to the mangled dead man at the bar, you are Aianna Dayes of the Grey Wardens, yes?" Zevran slightly looking to Daralis then back to Aianna. The two sisters look to one another raising eyebrows before Aianna nodded. "Ah yes, the king's description did not do you justice. He failed to mention that you were such a sexy seductress."

"I don't do elves." Aianna said firmly which caught Daralis off guard to her sister's usual response was returned flirtation. "Are you the contact we are supposed to be meeting here?" Zevran nodded.

"Well, though you yourself are an elf. This beautiful woman must be Daralis Cousland? The lost child of Highever they talk so much about in the castle? Maybe you mi— "

"My sister is a virgin and saving herself for someone special. Now can we move on to the more important matters like, I don't know? Why in the Void are we here?" Aianna cut him off with frustration in her voice and Daralis buried her face into her hand.

"Oh so touchy you are with all this rejection, makes my heart break." Zevran laughed sarcastically. "Shall we go now? We cannot find the hero of Ferelden by standing here and talking about it." Zevran walked between the two of them to the door.

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" Daralis finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "We are looking for the Hero of Ferelden, Aedan Cousland?" Zevran turned around and nodded as if confused.

"Did you not know this? Ah well, no matter I know where we must start." He continued to walk out of the abandoned pub. Daralis felt her heart skip a few beats, thinking of the missing brother she barely knew.

"Well Andraste's sweaty knickers…" Aianna groaned, "Remind me to tell Stroud when we get back that I didn't sign up to for the Grey Wardens to chase lost legends across the country side…" Daralis, looking pale, stood motionless as Aianna walked ahead, following the elf into the darkness of Highever's redlight district. Daralis shook herself from thought and followed after her sister out of the pub and into the streets though her mind was still wandering back to the missing Warden.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Sweet Smell of Blood

9:30 Dragon – Ferelden's Circle of Magi

Screams echoed the halls of the Circle Tower as Aianna and a few apprentices followed her down the steps to the third floor. Sweat poured down her face and she frantically wiped it from her forehead as they continued to descend down the stairs. Aianna and the others only knew what was going on from what they could make out from the screaming Templars. The small group reached the bottom of the stairs and Aianna pushed against the large door with all her strength, and to her horror, it was locked.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Aianna frantically continued to slam her body against the massive door until she fell backwards. The screams from upstairs continued and the smell of sulfur began to sting in the air. One of the human apprentices screamed and Aianna spun around to find a rage demon descending the stairs. The human apprentice tripped and the rage demon reached out its lava hand and burned the apprentice straight through. An elven apprentice shrieked in terror and casted a lightning spell but was also cut down by one slash of the demon's hand.

Aianna stood firm and used the time the rage demon was concentrating on the apprentices to cast her own spell. A shot of frost enveloped the rage demon from the ground, trapping it in ice. Aianna could hear a hissing noise from the frozen creature as the ice was cooling down the rage demons body of lava. The ice bust and the demon melted away. The two apprentices who had followed her were now dead and Aianna was trapped.

"SOMEONE!" she screamed slamming her fist on the door. "Someone please HELP me!" Aianna broke out into tears in fear for her life. Her sobs would attract more demons and abominations, she knew that. But someone had to have locked the door and that someone had to be alive on the other side. "For the love of the Maker! Please!"

What seemed like hours passed and her voice became strained from the unheard calls for help. With hope thinning around her Aianna fell to the floor sobbing. She clenched herself tightly and leaned her body against the door as she continued to cry.

"Aianna? Is that you?" a familiar voice of the tower called from the other side of the door. She paused for a moment, afraid of whom it might be. "Aia? It's Cullen! Answer me."

"Cullen! Thank the Maker," Aianna sobbed rising to her feet. "Please, open the door! I don't want to die! PLEASE!" she pleaded with the only Templar she ever trusted. "The top floor is crawling with demons! I just killed one and I'm sure more are coming!"

"Step back from the door, Aianna," Cullen spoke firmly. "I have to break it down!" Aianna quickly stepped back tripping over the dead human apprentice. She continued to sob, shaking in fear as Cullen swung his large sword against the door. He pounded harder between the lock a second time, and then a third. With a fourth strike, Cullen broke the massive lock that clamped the door shut and kicked it in. Aianna screamed as he burst through and quickly took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Cullen," Aianna sighed in relief wiping the tears from her eyes. He smiled at her pushing her hair out from her face and behind her ears. He took a few moments to allow her to regain herself watching the stairs carefully.

"No time Aia, we have to move now." Cullen led Aianna through the hall quickly, screams coming from behind closed doors. Templars and mages alike falling prey to the demons that had been unleashed behind those doors. Cullen led Aianna down a few rooms away from the stairs. He slowly leaned his head inside the open door to see the bodies of three Templars and a blood mage; but no sign of any demons. Cullen waved her to follow him inside the room. He quickly closed the door behind them and took one of the dead Templar's swords and barred the door with it.

The room was a writing room, full of papers, desks, and inks scattered among the mutilated bodies on the floor. There was only a small window with bars in the corner. Cullen examined the bars and pushed on one of them slightly. Aianna looked around the room and noticed a staff grasped in the blood mage's hand. She saw the lyrium woven into the design of the staff and red gem stones embedded into the top. She pulled the staff from the dead mage's hand and placed it in her own sheath where hers had once been. Turning to Cullen, she found he had pushed both of the bars in the window outward.

"Come on Aianna," he gestured for her to come closer. "Out the window with you!" Hesitantly she walked to the window and looked out and saw Lake Calenhad below. The drop to the water was much further than Aianna wanted to jump. "You need to go…Now."

"What about you Cullen?" she whispered looking to him with concern. "I can't just leave you here!" Aianna's head hurt from the screaming and her own sobs. She hadn't been outside the tower in almost fifteen years.

"Even if I could fit through the window I'd just sink in this armor, now go…" Cullen smiled touching her face softly and pushed her forward and trying to help her to the window's ledge. "You run, and don't look back you hear me?" Cullen handed her a pouch from his belt that jingled with coins. "You go find your mother in Tevinter; you know that's where she'd take your sister."

"Cullen…"Aianna whispered turning her feet over the side of the ledge and looked back at him. Her elven eyes gazed back at him full of tears and sadness. "Thank you, for everything. Not just now but all these years…" Cullen smiled, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear and remembered the scared little elf girl who couldn't read. No one would read her the letters from her mother and how she cried every night. Aianna's tears brought back all those memories from the last fifteen years.

"May the Maker watch over you Aianna, and may He lead you to a brighter path than this." He knew pushing her out of the window was against his vow and against the Order's. But he remembered reading to her when she was child, stories, letters from her mother and even the Chant of Light. No one would know. No one.

Cullen pushed her out the window without a second thought.

Aianna felt like she was falling forever down the side of the Magi tower. Her small framed body hit the water like a brick and she screamed in pain coming to the surface. The water was almost toxic from the years of waste the mages had dumped into the lake. Aianna could see the shoreline in front of her and she swam towards it, coughing from the polluted water. She swam as fast as she could, fighting the water's sickness until she finally climbed up to the lake's shore. Aianna gasped for air and collapsed on the lake bed sobbing loudly from pain and exhaustion. She knew she couldn't stay long, that she needed to find her Mother. If there was a Maker, Aianna thought to herself, still lying motionless on the lake bed, then maybe this happened for the best. She lived while many of her brethren were dead, dying, or going to die soon at the hands of demons.

She forced herself to her feet and to the left she could see the inn called _The Spoiled Princess_ that also had the boat dock that carried people to the Tower's front gate. Aianna closed her eyes and took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. She would need to travel West through Orlais and then Northeast through Nevarra. With no map but her memory Aianna set off for the Tevinter Imperium in hopes of finding her mother and the sister she had never known.

Aianna traveled through Ferelden unnoticed due to the recent events Ostagar, what with the former King of Ferelden falling in battle against the darkspawn. News seemed to travel faster than she could as she stuck to the northern side of the Imperial Highway only to cross through Heartlands to save time. On her travels she encountered many different kinds of people and places she could not at first understand. Once she made it safely through Orlais and into Nevarra, Aianna encountered a clan of Dalish elves that did not take kindly to her at first. Their Keeper asked her of her travels and she told them she was looking for her mother in Tevinter. Aianna traveled alongside the Dalish through the empty country side of Nevarra. While with the Dalish, she learned _Vallaslin, _or blood writing from the Dalish Keeper. Aianna began marking herself on nights they rested, covering most of her left cheek. With their guidance and company they avoided most human contact until reaching the outskirts of Tevinter.

Minrathous, the capital of the Tevinter Imperium, the city of Aianna's roots was littered with mages of all kinds. In the three months it took Aianna to travel here she had grown both in strength and magic. She had come to like the sound of the word "apostate" and the freedom she now had to use her gifts to the limit had hardened her once mute nature. The Keeper and his first had begun to teach Aianna battle stances for a mage not long before she had left them. Aianna remembered reading tomes on Force Magic written by the First Enchanters of Kirkwall's tower and was trying to teach herself the spells from memory alone. She no longer wore the long robes that she had grown up in.

Aianna was dressed in black leather stitched perfectly to fit her small frame by an elder Dalish woman. The front was cut low and the hem was short, just above her knees. A hunter had become infatuated with Aianna, and had once brought her back boots made of fine leather and offered them to her as a gift. She wore them with pride for they fit perfectly with alterations and the dark leather matched the dyed leather robes she wore. Aianna had collected red and black feathers from birds that hunters had brought back and fashioned them into the shoulders over her robes.

She fit quite well in the streets of Minrathous; here she was beautiful and respected for being a mage. Aianna took in the sights of magics being performed in the streets, fights breaking out between magisters and settling it in blood. Never in her life had she seen blood magic used before and it was everywhere in Minrathous; from the highest of magisters to the lowest of mage servants.

Aianna walked the streets looking for the elven alienage she remembered her mother mentioning in her letters over the years. What if she couldn't find her mother? What if they both had died in the massacre in Cousland castle? She shook her head trying to shake these thoughts from her mind. But she could not deter from her path now. She had to find the alienage first and, too scared to speak to anyone, Aianna continued to wonder aimlessly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

9:30 Dragon –Cousland Castle in Highever

Daralis awoke to banging on her door, an unfamiliar male voice calling her name with no lack of subtlety. She groaned under her breath and rolled over hoping the voice might go away and look for her at her mother's hut.

"Daralis Dayes! You will open this door immediately!" Daralis rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. Despite her disheveled appearance, her nobility shone through. Her dark brown hair fell well past her shoulders, her dark steel blue eyes all but screamed justice. She was protective over what family she had, for those who knew her, and most people within the castle left her alone. For the most part. She existed for the simple but important fact that Teryn Bryce Cousland had had a fit of weakness; in that weakened state, had one night of passion with her mother, Annalis Dayes, who was a serving girl there in the castle. With Annalis being an elf and her father being the Teryn of Highever, that had earned her absolutely no recognition to her being nobility.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming just…give me a minute to get decent, will you?" Daralis yelled from her side of the door. The banging stopped momentarily, but picked right back up, more insistent this time. She hastily threw on some light leather armor and opened the door. "What now?" Daralis demanded of the very harassed looking guard on the other side of the door.

"_Lady_ Dayes, your presence is required by the Teryn of Highever **immediately**." That, in and of itself threw up all kinds of flags in Daralis's mind. 

_Dear Maker, what now? _She thought to herself._ He never wants anything to do with me unless I've seriously fucked something up. And this idiot is new and I already don't like him._

"Please, oh please, _ser_, tell me what my father requires of me this time." Daralis spat back at the guard. He looked slightly taken aback by her sudden change in attitude. He visibly tensed at her hostility.

"H-He did not tell me, my lady. Only that I was to bring you to his quarters as soon as possible." The now abashed guard managed to stammer out. Daralis relaxed, leaning against the door frame.

"Surely, my dear, he told you something. I would not like to walk into an ambush fresh out of bed and at least, you know, if I did walk into an ambush it would not only be your fault, but it would also be your fault that I went down fighting looking like this." She playfully tugged at her breastplate and disheveled hair, and offered a small smile to the now relaxed guardsman, who returned it sevenfold.

"I will accompany you, dear guardsman. Would it be permissible to ask your name?" Daralis inquired of the guard, who, upon closer inspection, was actually quite a looker.

"M-My name is Ser Gilmore, my lady. I already know you, of course. You're the Teryn's-"He would have finished that sentence, had it not been for Daralis's lightning fast reflexes and her blade at his throat.

"You _are_ new. Allow me to give you a small lesson of mine and my father's relationship. _We-don't-have-one." _Each word emphasized by her blade pressing on Ser Gilmore's neck. "No one. I repeat, _**no one**_ in this Maker forsaken castle speaks of that night, or that I am a bastard child. I don't like it, I don't appreciate it, and you should pretend you don't know like everyone else here does. Do you understand?" Daralis slowly released her hold over the poor guard, who was as pale as the moonlit sky.

Ser Gilmore seemed to have understood her warning, for the moment, and backed away from her quickly, nearly tripping over his greaved feet. Ser Gilmore walked ahead silently, waiting for her to follow, but keeping his distance from her. He didn't even bother making small talk with her during the long trek from the stables to the castle, and finally up to Bryce's quarters. Ser Gilmore knocked once, and retreated quickly, as though the looming door was about to be possessed or be lit ablaze. Daralis chuckled to herself as she watched the guardsman's paranoid behavior.

"Enter." A booming voice said from the other side. Ser Gilmore nodded, once, to Daralis, giving her the go ahead, and he retreated back within the shadows. Daralis walked slowly into the fire lit room, noticing the Teryn sitting hunched over alongside the growing blaze. She sat down next to him silently, waiting for him to speak.

"Dara…I know we haven't had much father-daughter time and…I wanted to apologize." Bryce looked many years older as he began, and as she watched, she thought she saw tears welling up in his eyes. Daralis, brows furrowed in confusion, stared at him intently.

"But I didn't want you to come up here because I wanted to apologize. I wanted you to come up here because there are some things that I need to tell you. We're going to war, and I'm afraid there will be no one to look after you. I realize you've done fine, Daralis, but there comes a time when I need to let you go. You've grown into a beautiful, deadly, and manipulative woman…" Daralis did see tears fall this time.

"Father, what are you talking about? There's no war." Daralis said, standing up and crossing her arms. Calling him father felt more like out of guilt now than a sign of affection.

"I'm afraid there is, pup. I must ride out in the morning to the battle that awaits us. I'm so sorry Daralis. I regret listening to Eleanor about how I shouldn't be around you, and now that I think about it, it was her way of making me suffer for being unfaithful. I wanted you to grow up a noble, not some girl who lives in our barn." Bryce paused closing his eyes for a moment before he continued.

"Since I am going to battle, Aedan is in charge of the castle, and I want you to keep your wits about you while I'm gone. If anything goes wrong, which I'm sure it won't, you know the men will listen to you."

"I don't really see a point in you telling me all this…" Daralis began but Bryce held up his hand to silence her.

" I…I love you, Daralis. You should know that. I will fight to protect you until my dying breath. I just feel like I needed to tell you that before I left." Bryce trailed off, looking absently at the now dying flame before him. Daralis shook her head, feeling slightly guilty about how she had treated the guard earlier, and made a mental note to apologize, should she see him again.

"I love you too, Father. I will see you again. I swear that I will abide by your request until I have no breath left within me." With that, she gave a small salute to her father, and backed out of the room. She lingered only a moment longer than she should have, watching her father seemingly ebb away into the abyss of darkness he seemed to have holed himself up in. When she began to feel regret for not being there for Bryce, she knew it was time to leave. None of this was her fault.

Daralis took a secret passageway near her father's study that was a quicker route out to the farm yard. Once back at the barn, she stripped out of all her armor and weapons. Daralis felt a horrible sense of foreboding, but she sighed softly to herself and fell down upon the hay into a fitful sleep.

She was awoken once again by someone pounding on the door. Not feeling the need to put on armor or weapons this time, she pulled open the door in her smallclothes, to be greeted by a terrified looking Ser Gilmore.

"Daralis! You have to get out of here! The castle is under attack! Your father is-"Ser Gilmore's words were cut short by a jagged dagger stabbing him in the back through his heart, a quick kill.

"What in the name of Hessarian's mercy is going on now?" Daralis yelled as she jumped back from the falling corpse that was, only moments before, Ser Gilmore. She had only time enough to grab one of her swords, and cut her attacker's head clean off his shoulders.

"Well, at least they had a good view before they died." Daralis chuckled at her own joke, and hastily strapped on her set of leather armor, and strapped the two swords to her back, praying that no one else hostile had seen her. The scene that greeted her outside was an ugly one. The sight of charred corpses were lined outside the barn door. One guard still had an axe embedded in the back of his head and his body was still warm.

Daralis looked around the burning court yard to the servant huts and ran towards them. A stray attacker ran in front of her and she severed his head with a quick slice of her blade. Without stopping she kicked in the door on her mother's hut and scrambled inside. Annalis was not inside and Daralis knew she did not have time to search every hut for her mother. Grabbing a few things from her mother's chest in the corner; she made her way back into the farmyard.

Once inside the castle, Daralis ran through the parts of the castle that were not barricaded or caved in, and searched for familiar faces that weren't completely devoid of life. She finally found her ticket upon reaching the main hall. A man in heavy plate was fighting alongside her father's men, swiftly bringing death upon each person who made the mistake of getting anywhere near him.

She watched in awe as the warrior flew through the air, bringing a great sword down across two necks, immediately decapitating them. Daralis was brought back to reality as a warrior attempted to sneak up behind her, curving his blade high above his head in order to get more momentum down on his swing. Feeling bold, she waited until the last possible second before bringing one blade across his throat and settling the other one deep within the warrior's heart. There was the moment she reveled in. The moment of feeling that life course through the veins of her blade, watching as the light slowly faded from the man's eyes, and falling to the ground in a silent scream.

They carried on for what seemed like hours, until all the enemies had been dispatched, and Daralis and the warrior paused to catch their breath. All the other Cousland's men were dead. The warrior turned to Daralis with a smile and she saw her own face in his.

"That was beautiful, sister." Aedan sauntered up to her, grinning from ear to ear. He readjusted his armor and placed his massive blade behind his back.

"Hello brother." Daralis felt tears stinging her eyes, overjoyed at seeing her brother alive. A brother she knew well but barely spoke to was still family to her.

"Sister, have you seen Father? Or Mother?" Aedan's concern was written all over his face.

"No, brother. I haven't. I haven't seen my mother either. I checked her hut before coming here. I think she said she was cleaning the kitchen this even…" Daralis trailed off as Aedan gestured for her to come closer to him.

"Your mother is alive. I saw her moments ago, heading towards one of the servant's passages. Let's go. Follow me." Aedan nodded to an open door.

Aedan led Daralis away from the majority of the fighting, and into the cellar that was behind the kitchen. Bryce lay on the stone floor in a dark pool of his own blood, fatally wounded, but alive. Eleanor lay next to him, an arrow through her heart. Daralis and Aedan rushed to their father's side, kneeling in his blood.

"Father! Father! Who-?" Daralis was in a frenzied panic, demanding answers. That was when she saw the crest emblazoned on one of the dead men's shields. The Howe family crest. The family that had been allies of her father's for years had now turned on the Cousland line. And for what?

Aedan was sitting on the ground, Bryce's head in his lap, tears flowing freely now. Aedan bent down close to his ear, and Daralis, from where she kneeled onto the bloody floor, could see Bryce was telling him something, though she couldn't make out what. She watched in horror as Bryce's eyes fluttered closed for the final time, and she began to cry.

"DARALIS!" A voice yelled from the doorway, making Daralis jump clear out of her skin. With not even enough time to get over her initial shock of being scared senseless, she was swept up in a firm and reassuring embrace.

"M-Mother?" Daralis cried even harder wrapping her arms around the elven woman in return. "Oh thank the Maker you're alright!"

"Daralis…how did you make it back from the barn?" Annalis inquired of her daughter trying not to look at the gruesome sight before them.

"I got lucky, I suppose Mother." Daralis replied shaking her head before turning back to Aedan and collapsing to the floor at his side over Bryce's body. Annalis frantically looked around the room as a large older man wearing rogue robes, with a sword and dagger secured to his back strode into the room. He firmly shut the door behind him.

"Aedan," He spoke firmly. "There is no time now for mourning. We must leave now or we are all going to die." The man pulled Aedan to his feet towards the servant's passage that led out into the city. Annalis pulled at a sobbing Daralis to follow.

"No…Duncan…" Aedan muttered.

"No time!" the older man, Duncan, insisted as they disappeared into the passageway with Daralis and her mother not far behind.

"Darling?" A voice whispered soothingly into Daralis's ear. "Wake up my child…" The voice continued as Daralis opened her eyes to see her mother sitting over her. "Child, you can't sleep all day we need to move and quickly."

"Where is Aedan?" Daralis rose to see they had camped in a wooded area. She could not remember how far or how long they had ran. But she did remember the pain of Bryce dying and the ache in her head from all the sobbing.

"Gone dear," Annalis spoke firmly. "Left not long after you passed out. That old Grey Warden insisted that Aedan leave with him without waking you."

"Grey Warden?" Daralis questioned rubbing her face trying to wake up. "Aedan went with that man? Why?"

"I do not know Dara," Annalis sighed shaking her head and looking around them. "But we have a long walk ahead of ourselves and you'd best be ready."

"Walk…Where are we walking to?"

"Where else child? The place I have always said I'd go back to once you were old enough to be on your own. But since we have no home we will go now. Even if you are only sixteen." Daralis's mother smiled as she turned and began to walk away. Daralis hurried to her feet, confused, tired, and most of all hungry.

"Where Mother?" She pleaded once again before realizing what her mother meant.

Annalis was born in Minrathous, the capital of the Tevinter Imperium. The very thought of the place ruled by mages terrified her and to leave behind the only place she had ever known.

"Why there mother…" Daralis sighed catching up with her mother.

"You know why, Dara. Once your sister hears of the Cousland line dying out she will come to us and the only place she knows where to look is our home…"

"Tevinter is not my home…" Daralis scowled as they walked into the early morning light out of the woods and toward the Imperial Highway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

9:30 Dragon –Minrathous Capital of the Tevinter Imperium

Daralis didn't know what she hated more: the mages or the alienage. She hated the mages because well, they were _mages_. With all that power and half of them didn't know what to do with it. Plus, they all had to wear skirts. Even the men had to wear skirts! To Daralis, that was unheard of. She could barely stand to wear her own rogue armor with the leather and chainmail skirt, let alone something that she would have to wear _all the time _because it would brand her for what she is. The alienage, however, was an entirely different story. The elven alienage was full of bandits, people (whether human, elf, or dwarf) who had left their families for various reasons, and the true rejects of society. The elves hated the humans. They hated everyone, even their own kind. They looked upon Daralis and her mother as outcasts, which would be fine, barring the occasional 'must kill the outsider' fights that the elves seemed to enjoy.

Today was no different. Daralis and her mother were shopping in the very small marketplace that was set up in the center of the alienage, for the meager supplies they could afford. The place smelled like something had burned for a long time, over and over again. Which, given the supply of mages, this was no surprise. Annalis had meandered over to a trinket store, admiring the shiny new amulets and rings, when suddenly Daralis was nearly knocked over by a small elven woman with short dark hair.

"Excuse me? I am looking for an elf named…Annalis Dayes." The elf's eyes were shining bright with hope. Daralis was taken aback, shocked that someone would know her mother's name.

"How do you know that name, mage?" Daralis demanded Aianna to speak, holding one sword out toward her. "Tell me know how you know the name Annalis Dayes!" She demanded again stepping hesitantly toward her. To cross a mage in Tevinter was almost a guaranteed death sentence. But this elf knew her mother's name, was asking for her. Aianna was hesitant to speak, aware that she was fighting a human in the middle of the alienage.

"Why does it matter to a shem like you," Aianna snickered cracking her neck, as the two women circled one another. "But it looks like you have the information I need to find Annalis Dayes and if you aren't going to give it to me willingly…" Aianna slammed her staff down against the street and a swift bolt of lightning sped toward Daralis. Jumping backwards and landing on top of an empty barrel to avoid the shock, Daralis threw a dagger at Aianna.

The mage forced the dagger backward with a burst of telekinetic energy then a burst of fire blazed out from mage's hand toward Daralis who jumped off the barrel and landed behind Aianna. Daralis's sword clashed against Aianna's staff. With each strike of Daralis's weapon Aianna met with either her own weapon or force magic. The two women continued to brawl in the street now collecting a crowd of curious elves.

"You move fast, for a mage. Hah!" Daralis taunted Aianna thrusting her sword upward only to be met with a block from a staff. Aianna laughed pulling in telekinetic energy and forced it outward into a mind blast spell. Daralis ducked to the ground missing the numbing spell by an inch as her back hit the ground. She jumped back to her feet continuing to strike at the mage.

"You aren't bad either," Aianna smiled forcing telekinetic energy under Daralis and pushing the rogue into the air. "For a rogue!" Aianna spun around out of the way and manipulated the energy to spiral downward, slamming Daralis hard into the ground. Aianna tightened her first into a ball and lightning began to manifest in her palm. Swiftly Daralis rose to her feet and placed her blade against Aianna's throat not realizing she was caught midspell against her own neck. The two women stood still eyeing the other waiting for the other to make the first move. The crowd gasped at the sight. Aianna and Daralis both were breathing heavy from the brawl still watching one another. Daralis saw her mother in the crowd and her blue eyes widened.

"Mother…mother no!" She hissed as Annalis walked forward from behind Aianna. The middle aged elf woman hurried to her daughter's side. She intended to beg Aianna's forgiveness not knowing what kind of mage she might be.

"Master Mage," Annalis pleaded, "My daughter does not know what she…"Annalis paused seeing the mage's face. Aianna's gaze met Annalis' and she saw her own deep blue eyes staring back into hers. The two stared blankly back at one another for a few moments then Annalis grabbed Daralis's hand and pulled the dagger away from Aianna's throat.

"Mother!" Daralis pleaded as Annalis stood between her and Aianna now. The mage closed her hand and stayed her spell still staring dumfounded at Annalis. The old woman touched Aianna's face and moved the loose hair away.

"Aianna?" Annalis whispered with quivering lips and tears starting to run down her face. "Is that you my child, my sweet girl…?" Daralis stood still looking over the mage elf once more now seeing her mother in the mage's face. The beauty that her mother once had stood in the form of a sister she had never known.

Aianna could only nod in response to Annalis's question with her own tears running down her checks. Annalis smiled and burst into laughter hugging Aianna tightly. "Praise the Maker child, you are here...I never thought I'd see you again!" Annalis sobbed into Aianna's shoulder as she hugged her mother for the first time. "Oh darling," Annalis smiled finally letting go of Aianna. "This is your sister, Daralis."

The two looked each other over carefully hesitant to move at all since they just tried to kill one another moments before. Aianna reached out her hand to her sister and Daralis took it into hers. With a firm grasp the sisters felt a strange feeling in their guts as they met for the first time. Their future together was going to be long and hard.

"So you mean to tell us you jumped out of a tower window and into the Lake and lived?" Daralis asked after hearing Aianna's story of her escape. The young mage nodded, as the family sat around the tiny dinner table in Annalis's apartment. The two sisters sat as their mother cooked dinner and listened with a smile. "But by the Void how did you know we would come to Minrathous or better yet how did you hear about the attack on Cousland Castle?"

"A few nights after it happened," Aianna sighed remembering the news hitting her hard. "Merchants come to the Tower frequently to sell the Templars and mages goods, as long as the Knight Commander approves of certain goods. A merchant was talking about how the Cousland family were traitors to the crown and how the whole castle had been stripped of soldiers, servants, men and the Teryn and his family dead. I feared the worst." Aianna shook her head. "If they were killing everyone; I knew they wouldn't show mercy to an elven servant and her human daughter."

"Dear," Annalis spoke quietly. "I never told you this in our letters because it didn't need to be spread around. Daralis's father is Bryce Cousland, the dead Teryn of Highever."

"Andraste's blood!" Aianna choked turning to Daralis with a smile. "So you're not only a bastard, but a royal bastard?" she laughed at her own joke and Daralis raised an eyebrow to Aianna.

"Didn't know there was such a thing as a comical mage," Daralis groaned rolling her eyes at Aianna. But it was nice to see that she wasn't a dry stick in the mud.

"You must not know very many mages." Aianna sighed recovering from her laughter. "But you know, I will not lie and say I didn't entertain the idea of the Couslands actually being traitors to the Crown. It seemed like all of their proposals were all…conveniently placed." Aianna shook her head, the smile from before not even a shadow on her face now. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, daring her newfound sister to react.

"How dare you!" Daralis spat, rising from the table, and slamming her fist down, warping the poor table that was already in bad shape. Aianna watched as her sister's eyes flashed with anger, the color rising into her cheeks. "You have no right to come in here, slandering the Cousland family name! So what if I'm a bastard? It didn't matter then, and sure as the Maker's will it doesn't matter now! I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Daralis backed away from the table, walking away from what she knew would only end in a fight.

"You are no Cousland, girl!" Aianna stood, slamming her own fists into the table. "And you are even less a Dayes, from where I'm standing! I hate to point this out to you, but you don't exactly seem to fit in with this little family, now do you?" Aianna said, backing away from the table, arms out, daring Daralis to come close to her.

Daralis stopped dead in her tracks. As she turned around and withdrew a small dagger from within the folds of her armor. Calming her nerves, dagger drawn, Daralis spoke in the most uneven of tones. "What…the…_fuck_…did…you…just…say?" Her breathing heavy, and her heart hammering loudly in her chest. Somehow, Daralis knew Aianna was trying to antagonize her. It seemed _fitting_ for her personality.

"Oh, is that all you can do, _sister_," she spat out the word 'sister' like it was some piece of trash. "Is to draw a weapon when you can't fight with words?" Aianna herself was breathing heavy, feeling the adrenaline run through her veins. With the adrenaline, came anger. Pure, unfaltering, undiminished anger. With anger, there was magic. Anyone near could hear the magic crackling as it came to the surface of her skin. Aianna tried to control what she felt, but at the rate this was escalating, she couldn't hold onto it any longer. She manifested lightning within the palm of her hand that was balled into a fist. Without thinking or contemplating the consequences of her actions, Aianna fired first. The bolt narrowly missing Daralis's head. "Next time, I won't miss."

Daralis felt the electrical currents very near to her, and she could sense her sister's very obvious power. "Enough! I will not fight you within my own home! Get out!" Daralis screamed at Aianna. "You were always gone! You didn't even know I existed until now!"

"Well, that's your own fault isn't it, Daralis? You were the one who never wrote while I was in the tower! You don't know me, and you don't know Mother! At this rate, you will _never_ know me!" Aianna screamed, advancing on Daralis. "You were the one who denied my existence, not me!"

"How could I get to know you Aianna? I don't even remember you! You were locked up in a tower for _mages_, and the way I see it, mages should be locked up in towers, maybe even prisons! You should have stayed there and died along with the rest of your little malefic-"Daralis didn't get to finish.

"ENOUGH!" Their mother's voice boomed over both of her daughter's yelling. "That is enough from both of you! Aianna, this is not who I remember you to be, you were always quiet and kind. You aren't the sweet, beautiful little girl that I remember. You antagonized your sister. For what gain? What happened to you?"

Aianna sat back down in her chair, the remnants of magic fading. "When you're always being watched…constantly spied on, when you're eating, sleeping, reading, and there's nothing you can do but exist. You're taught to fear your given abilities and not accept them for what they are…for what _we_ are. You exist, knowing that one day, your magic might get the better of you, and those people that you've gotten to know and understand…not only will they turn on you…they'll kill you. Without a second thought." Aianna paused, putting her face in her hands. "In a world like that, there is no time to be beautiful, or sweet. It is a time to be focused, and determined to get out. No matter the cost."

Daralis re-sheathed her dagger, stunned by the mage's words. "I…I had no idea…" She sat down in her chair across from Aianna. "Maker. That's horrible. I-I'm sorry, Aianna. I had no idea…" Daralis trailed off, lost in thought.

"No, you don't. You really don't. You assume you're so much better and you know everything from what you were taught by the Chantry. You're wrong. They don't tell you what they make us go through. How even the most powerful mages will be given the Rite of Tranquility or be killed. Ever wonder why there are so many apostates? Ever wonder why there are so many here in Tevinter? Why Tevinter is so feared from the rest of Thedas? Mages." Aianna bowed her head. "Mother, is there somewhere else I can rest for the night? I don't think your _daughter_ wants me here. Which I will gladly abide by."

"You'll do no such thing, Aia. You'll stay here for the night. The room in the back is open for you; feel free to place what you have there. The room is yours." Annalis had been quiet, but watching both of her daughters fight like this was unnerving. What if they never get through this? If they're so at ends with one another over simple trivialities, what would they be like, fighting for a united cause? Annalis bade them both good night, and retreated to where she slept, and began to write in her manifesto.

Daralis and Aianna stared each other down after their mother had lain down, unsure of what to do next. Aianna was the first to move toward her room. She said not a word when she left her sister there in the dark. She knew this would get no easier or any better, at least for the time being. "She's got gall, I'll give her that." Aianna said to herself the darkness, carefully placing her staff next to her bed, in case she needed it, it wasn't far away. When her head hit the pillow, her dreams were haunted by faces she could not recognize, places she knew she had never seen, and herself, covered in blood, in the middle of it all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Take It or Leave It

9:30 Dragon – Minrathous Chanter's Board

Aianna stood, kneeled over in front of the Chanter's Board, scanning the documents for anything new, just as she had done at sunup for the last three months. Being a mage, she was able to find petty work quite easily for basic pay. Her sister had had a difficult time finding work and, as such, Aianna became the primary caretaker of the current Dayes' family.

She found today hotter than the usual Tevinter weather, and she noticed the Chanter that constantly kept watch over the board was unusually irritating. But she wasn't going to let her fifteen years of shelter in the tower deter her from finding a job that would put food on the table for the week.

"Blessed are the peacekeepers, champions of the just." The Chanter looked down at the elven mage, smiling down kindly upon her.

"Shut up." Aianna shot him a dark look before turning back to the board. She shook her head in annoyance.

"Those who speak ill will of the Maker shall find no rest in this world or beyond." The Chanter continued, his expression changing to a scowl.

"I am _not_ speaking ill will of the Maker. I am speaking ill will towards _you_!" Aianna grabbed a piece of parchment from the board, and stormed away. As she made her way through the marketplace, she slowed her footsteps, taking in the sights and smells Tevinter had to offer. There was the smell of something being burned, it's true. The shadow of the massive chantry in the middle of the city was beginning to creep over the market place as the day wore on.

Quickening her pace, Aianna travelled the winding alleys towards the alienage with haste. She knew she needed to sleep before evening for the job she had selected. It was one of her favorites, package delivery, and she had worked for this 'person' before. She would simply meet her hooded mage employer behind the local whorehouse and be given a sack or box. She would then take it to another hooded mage. Simple, easy, bottom coin in her pocket.

Daralis sat on the floor, a whetstone in her right hand and a dull dagger in the other. Her frustration obviously showed in the way she glided the whetstone down the blade, sending sparks with every point of pressure she applied. She had had no luck with finding a job at all; they seemingly looked past the fact she could pick locks and stealthily kill people, should a job arise where she needed to.

"Of course mages only trust other mages. Yet no mage can be trusted at all!" Daralis complained as sparks flew from the blade with each stroke of the whetstone. Intensifying her speed with every thought of Aianna reluctantly putting food into Daralis's mouth. "How did my life become so mundane?"

"Darling," Annalis interjected softly. "You will either break that dagger or cut off your fingers if you keep that up." The middle-aged elf sighed and sipped her freshly made tea. She had hung her newly bought cast-iron kettle above the magical fire. The sudden sound of the dagger breaking into two pieces and Daralis yelping in pain forced Annalis to shake her head in annoyance. "Or both…"

Daralis sighed, taking in the damage that she had done. The kettle their mother had bought was shattered in several large pieces on the floor, and bright red blood from Daralis's open wound was sprayed across her face. "Mother, why is it mages only trust other mages? Why is it that I can't find a decent job anywhere in Tevinter? It's always 'mage this, mage that'. It doesn't matter that I can pick locks better than any mage in this Maker-forsaken place, or that I can actually sneak up on someone without having to get close to kill them!" Daralis exclaimed, slamming her still-bleeding hand onto the table, right onto the broken dagger blade. "Blasted, bloody mages with their maginess and their stupid powers..." Daralis mumbled, cleaning up the mess she had made.

Aianna creaked open the door, hearing the crash, and was met by a bloody Daralis. "What in the Black City are you doing?" Aianna exclaimed. "You've broken...Mama's...kettle..." Aianna trailed off, seeing the shattered pieces on the floor. Her eyes narrowed with rising anger ready to lash out at Daralis. "Some rogue you are, Daralis." the young mage snickered sarcastically. "Who taught you to handle a blade? A nug?" Aianna laughed cruelly before turning on a heel to face their mother.

With surprising speed and agility, Daralis rose from her chair and bolted toward Aianna. She grasped the mage's neck with her bleeding hand and slammed her back into the wall. Aianna struggled, choking for air and frantically tugging at Daralis's wrist.

"Let-go-of-me!" Aianna fought hard to get her sister to release the death grip on her neck, but no matter what Aianna did, Daralis would not release her.

"Take back what you said! I will have you know that I was not taught by a nug, I was taught by an elven servant who I thought of like family! Too bad you never got to know any of your family because you had to be born a self-hating mage. You hate everyone and everything around you!" Daralis's flushed cheeks gave away her anger towards her newfound sister.

"What did you just say?" Aianna stopped trying to fight her sister off, dropping her arms to her sides, but clenched her hands into fists, a white-blue glow emanating from them.

"You heard me, mage. I didn't stutter." Daralis was oblivious to the danger she was in, far past caring. All that mattered to her was choking the life out of Aianna.

"You will take that back!" Aianna screamed in Daralis's face. Before she realized what she was doing, she had tapped into her mana and summoned lightning, letting go of a single bolt that narrowly missed Daralis. "You talk about _me_ being self-hating? What about you? You _detest_ me. I know you do. You hate the fact that I'm supporting the family, and you can't! You don't fit with this family. At all. You're the one that's self-hating." Aianna steadied her hand, and allowed the spell to dissipate.

"What in the Maker's name were you thinking, Aianna? You could have killed your sister!" Annalis yelled from the doorway, white as a sheet, leaning on the doorframe for balance.

"Mama, she's just angry because she can't find any work here in Tevinter. She's _jealous_." Aianna spat out the word jealous like it was a piece of filth in the street. "If only you had been born a mage..." Aianna scoffed at her sister, feeling the magic begin to push towards the surface of her skin, but forced it back down, so as to not anger her mother.

Daralis stood, visibly shaken by Aianna's words, on the opposite side of the room. She re-sheathed the dagger she had drawn in retaliation to Aianna's burst of lightning, her breathing slowing down.

"Aianna...how could you say such a thing? It's not my fault I was born as I am. It's not my fault that you're a mage and I'm a rogue. I just _hate_ the fact that I have to rely on _you_, someone I _just met_, to put food on the table for the family. You're a _mage_, and _mages_ can't be trusted. You're hardly making enough doing your side jobs to put food on the table for you." Daralis said, with a look of utmost contempt for Aianna.

Aianna, undaunted, shot back, "Y'know, if I could get an apprenticeship with a magister, I could be making tons of coin." She dusted a few wood chips from the wall off her back and arms. "The opportunity has but to present itself."

Their mother, still standing in the doorway, sprang to life. "Absolutely not. You will not be a magister's apprentice!" Both Aianna and Daralis jumped at their mother's sudden change in disposition.

"Mama, what are you on about?" Aianna said hesitantly shrugging in her lack of understanding to her mother's sudden outburst. "Why can't I? I could take care of everyone!" Annalis sighed, shaking her head in frustration. The two sisters looked at each other in confusion.

"Well, I suppose now is a good a time as any to tell you why…why you can't be a magister's apprentice." Annalis stared at the ground, carefully choosing her words. She had sworn a long time ago that she would never explain to her daughters why they were free, and their true lineage. "Please, girls, sit down. Do try not to step on the glass, Dara."

The three women took seats silently at the table, Aianna and Daralis scowling at one another. Annalis snapped her fingers to gain her daughters attention from their staring competition.

"Where to begin…" Annalis trailed off, not desiring to explain the story. "If you didn't know, Dayes is a family slave name here." She tapped the table to gesture Tevinter itself. "The Dayes are a long line of rogues that have served the Kettil family, a family of magisters, since before the time of Andraste."

"What?" Aianna felt her jaw drop as she cried incredulously. "You didn't think it was pertinent information to tell us this before now?" Annalis sighed deeply as Aianna continued. "Is that the reason you told us not to use our family name?"

Their mother nodded slowly and silence fell over the three women. After a few moments Annalis calmly raised her head and cleared her throat as she began the tale.

"To make things simple for you to understand," Annalis began shifting her gaze from her daughters to the fireplace. "My father's name was Enyo Kettil, a powerful elven magister with little love for humans. In his youth I was told he was a cruel man who did horrible things to reach the level of status he had by the time I was born. He was feared by his peers, and loathed by his slaves." Their mother paused for a moment trying to recall memories she had long forgotten.

"And your mother was a slave?" Aianna asked impatiently, almost as if she was annoyed by her mother's long pause.

"Yes," Annalis continued, throwing Aianna a sharp glare. "As I said the Dayes family had served the Kettil's for generations. But by the time I was born the last Dayes was my mother, Daranne. Mother never spoke much about what happened to her parents." Shaking the thought away, she continued. "Around 8:83, Enyo was becoming an old man and in his own vanity came up with the idea to produce as many children as he could to preserve his legacy."

"Legacy?" Daralis spoke softly, with her arms crossed, and obviously still agitated from her quarrel with Aianna earlier. "You mean his title?"

"His bloodline dear," Annalis smiled, "He had never taken a wife nor had any children to my prior knowledge. Mother used to say she thought he preferred the company of his male peers and slaves." She and Aianna shared identical smiles at the thought. Daralis only raised an eyebrow. "So he bedded every one of his female slaves until they either proved fruitless or became heavy with child. Daranne was one of those slaves, despite her being his personal assassin."

"That seemed like insanity at its finest." Daralis added leaning back in her chair. She glanced over to Aianna who met her gaze with her own. The two women turned back to their mother, cursing the other in their minds.

"I was not the first born, but I was not the youngest among my many siblings. We never really got to know each other. Our mothers did not wish for us to mingle, I suppose. I do not remember those days well…" Annalis stopped and closed her eyes. "But I do remember blood…and death."

"He killed the children who weren't mages." Aianna finished for her mother. Daralis's eyes widened at Aianna's conclusion and frantically looked to her mother for confirmation. Annalis nodded, looking to the floor while Daralis slumped down in her chair.

"My mother couldn't bare it. So she did the only thing she could think of. While Enyo was killing one of his own sons, we slipped out into the night never looking back. I was barely six and I don't remember that night well…But…" Annalis could not force herself to continue. Her lips sealing themselves shut with grief.

"Where did Grandmother take you?" Daralis asked, reaching her hand to her mother's and grasping it firmly.

"Antiva…" Annalis smiled returning to the comfort her daughter was trying to give. "My mother took a job as a market hand and I grew up there. I stayed there until she died and after. I married an Antivan merchant and wanted to have a family. Forget the past."

"Married?" Aianna asked, raising an eyebrow with confusion. "I don't ever remember you being married or even my father." Annalis touched Aianna's face, seeing her own image in hers.

"The merchant was your father, Aianna," Annalis sighed and composed herself. Her weak demeanor changed to her usual calm almost sarcastic self. "He died before you were born. If he had lived you would have been born and raised in Antiva, my child."

"My father…" Aianna stuttered, feeling her blood run cold. "My father…was…Antivan?" Somehow the words she searched for wouldn't form on her lips. She never thought she'd have to hear the words 'Father' or 'Antivan' in the same sentence come from her lips. It disgusted her.

"Merchant." Annalis smiled, patting Aianna on the head as if she was a child. "Your father was an Antivan merchant. But that is saying something for him since he was elven." Daralis let out a giggle at the sight of Aianna's obvious distress. "But he was my husband, unlike Daralis's father. I know the thought of your father being Antivan might upset you, Aianna. But at least you are not a bastard child."

Daralis's giggling stopped and her smile vanished immediately after her mother spoke those last words. She felt her own stomach turn that her own mother called her a bastard to prove a point. Now both sisters sat in silence in their own embarrassments. Annalis smiled, standing to her feet.

"So the moral of the story is that magisters are evil people with vicious agendas. So Aianna, no magisters. Daralis, no cutting yourself anymore. I am off to the market." Annalis made way for the door leaving her two daughters to sit in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Never Trust Mages

9:31 Dragon –Outside City Limits Minrathous

News had reached the Imperium that the Blight had ended thanks to the efforts of two Grey Wardens in Ferelden uniting the nation after the Battle at Ostagar. But life in Minrathous was not different from the time the Dayes family settled in over a year ago.

Daralis had found work as a bodyguard in the market place for a jeweler and Aianna was somehow making almost a sovereign a week. The young mage would come home after being gone over two months bearing gifts and coin. She'd stay only a few days and then leave once more. Annalis assumed Aianna was dealing in Lyrium smuggling maybe as a bodyguard like Daralis. She thought it better not to ask her daughter.

But Daralis knew better than to put so much trust into a sister she did not know; especially a sister who was a mage. The past year something was changing in Aianna. Physically, she had nearly covered her left side from head to toe in the markings she already her on her face. She was beginning to run faster and longer than she could before. Her staff moved more fluidly in her hands and her magic was expanding. Aianna carried staves with built in blade and arm warmers up to her shoulders.

Daralis had noticed changes in herself as well. She never knew that sixteen to seventeen could have such a dramatic change. She found herself more balanced and her strikes with a blade faster. But her height was made more obvious by the fact she already was taller than the rest of her family. Her mother constantly teasing her about outgrowing her armor was also a constant reminder she had grown.

Daralis returned home early in the morning to find Aianna packing supplies for her to leave. The young rogue leaned against the doorway waiting for her sister to notice her presence. After a few moments Aianna peered over her shoulder to see Daralis's arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Don't start with me," Aianna groaned turning back to her packing. "I don't have the desire or the time to deal with your foolishness." Her matter-of-fact tone no longer fazed Daralis like it once did. Aianna and Daralis had reached some kind of mutual agreement that no matter how much one annoyed the other, no fighting; for their mother's sake and for the sake of their tiny home holding together.

"You haven't even been home a full day and you're already leaving? Do you hate us that much you cannot wait to run off to whatever it is that you do? Whoring I suspect. Mother would never believe that idea even if the Maker Himself told her." Daralis sighed walking into the room looking around suspiciously.

"Most women would rather die whoring than die a virgin." Aianna turned around to face Daralis with blue eyes glaring at her almost like piercing steel. "But I guess we shall never know. Now move. Mother already knows I'm leaving so why does it matter to you?" The mage pulled her sack over her right shoulder. "It's not like you really care what happens to me or what I do." Aianna pushed her way passed Daralis to the doorway, grabbing her black staff from the corner of the room as she stepped into the living area.

"You're right. I don't care," Daralis followed her. "But mother does so I 'pretend' like I care." She shrugged taking a seat at the table. "But a lot of good that really does me." She propped her feet up onto the table and leaned back in her chair. Aianna stood still for a few moments before reaching for a dagger tied to her left side. She unsheathed the blade holding it out in front of her. Daralis leaned a little to the right to try and get a better angle view. But to no avail.

Aianna turned around to Daralis tossing the dagger's heavy leather sheath onto the table. Daralis looked up at Aianna curiously, though somehow the annoyance did not leave her face. Aianna struck the dagger into the table near Daralis and turned away.

"I hope your seventeenth birthday is better than mine was," Aianna spoke coldly with a scowl on her face as she made her way out the door. As the front door shut behind her Daralis hesitantly pulled the dagger from its wedge in the table. She examined it closely. The blade was of fine quality and had recently been sharpened and polished. On both sides of the blade above the handle was the Cousland family crest engraved in the blade itself.

Daralis's eyes widened with confusion before she realized her birthday was in two days. How did Aianna know when her birthday was? Why did she give her a gift like this? She reached for the dagger's sheath and tucked the dagger away into her own belt. Daralis stood up from her chair, and began to walk out of the room before a thought struck her. "She's up to something," she said to no one in particular. "She hates me almost as much as I hate her. She doesn't randomly just give people gifts. I know she's up to something." Daralis kept walking as she spoke aloud.

"What about those arm warmers? What about all the coin that she's been getting? Where is she getting all of it? And gone for months at a time? Whatever she's doing, it isn't safe. It pays well, but, knowing Aianna, it's dangerous. Damnable mage is going to get me into trouble. I can feel it. Something just isn't right." Daralis walked back into the kitchen, subconsciously grabbing a strawberry cookie off the counter. "Maker I hate that self-righteous bitch."

Daralis paced around the kitchen, contemplating what she should do. Should she tell Mother? No, that would be foolish; Aianna could spit on Andraste's grave and their mother would blame Daralis for it. "How can I find out what she's doing? I'm a fairly decent rogue…I can do stealth…" She gasped in surprise. "That's it! I'll follow her at a safe distance, and see where she's been going! This plan cannot possibly fail!" Daralis nearly leapt in joy; instead, she grabbed a dagger from its sheath and slammed it down into the table.

Simultaneously, the new kettle that Aianna had just bought their mother that hung over the fireplace crashed to the ground, shattering into several shards. Daralis began to pick up the pieces, nearly cutting one of her wrists in the process. "Oh, Maker preserve me I don't have time for this." Daralis dropped all the pieces back on the floor, managed to get her dagger out of the table, and hurried out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I Know You're Here…"

9:31 Dragon – Maferath's Sorrow Tavern & Inn

Aianna, hood pulled down over her face so as not to be noticed by any of the regulars, slipped into a back table where there were two other hooded figures were seated. A small package was exchanged from the latter to the former, with only a small nod for dialogue. Aianna graciously rose from her seat, and walked back outside. She looked around suspiciously, making note of anything odd in her surroundings, and began to walk West.

Daralis watched Aianna from the shadows, following her every move. She knew that Aianna was up to something now. Whatever it was that she might be doing looked overly suspicious. Aianna walked with a steady pace, and Daralis struggled to keep up with her.

"Maker, what is she up to?" Daralis wondered as she fought to keep up with Aianna's quick pace as she tried to remain unnoticed. She followed her around the city, making note every time Aianna stopped and looked around, and Daralis made herself unknown to her target.

Aianna knew she was being followed. She could sense it. Whoever her pursuer was, they were not very skilled at stealth. She could see a shadowy form out of her peripheral vision every now and again, but whenever she turned to look, the figure would disappear into thin air. As Aianna approached her next turn to head to her destination, she decided to turn left instead of right to the city gates.

"Fool," Aianna thought to herself walking through the gate out into the endless plains and old path. "Follow me will you?" Aianna knew that this path was used by slavers, not magisters. With winter on its way this trail did not see that much traffic as it did in the warmer months. Aianna was beginning to find pleasure in the idea of killing whoever was following her.

After almost an hour of walking Aianna stepped off the trail into the open fields and stopped. Aianna took in a deep breath of the night air, pulling her staff from its holster. She exhaled, her breath looking like a stream of smoke escaping her lips. Aianna smashed her staff firmly into the ground then held both arms out in front of her. Lightning manifested and sparked loudly from her opened palms as if to prove her power to the would-be assassin.

"I know you're here Savien!" Aianna taunted while the lightning around her escalated slightly, shaking the earth beneath her feet. "If this is about your failures yesterday, you shouldn't waste your time coming after ME!" she looked around, seeing no one, until she stared into the treeline, where the shadowy figure had regained form. Aianna swiftly clutched her staff with her left hand and rotating it around her back to her right hand. With a single movement of her right hand, Aianna held the staff to her right side. The long blade at the end of her staff could be seen behind her left shoulder, glimmering in the moonlight.

The figure drew closer; the sound of swords being drawn from holsters hit Aianna's ears. She realized her stalker was not a mage but a rogue. Aianna cracked her neck in anticipation as the figure drew closer. Dual blades gleamed in the moonlight during which the dark figure's form was clear.

"You? What in the Maker's name…what are you doing?" Aianna exclaimed, rolling her eyes and relaxing her battle stance. "Go home Dara," The young mage sighed, shaking her head and began to walk back toward Daralis. "I do not have time to deal with your childish games." Daralis blocked her path and rammed Aianna backward.

"Every time you come home you always have something new and expensive!" Daralis screeched, forcefully driving Aianna backwards again. "Staves! Blades! Jewelry! Kettles! Clothes!" With one final push backwards from Daralis, Aianna finally returned her shove with one of her own. "You're making so much coin doing Maker knows what…" Daralis trailed off, now watching the mage intently after she regained her own footing.

"Enough," Aianna uttered firmly stepping backwards a few steps and turned her back to Daralis. "I'm done arguing with you…" In the blink of an eye Aianna circled around to face Daralis. The elf's battle stance returned and lightning generated from her left hand. Aianna extended her left arm outward and firmly grasped her staff in her right. "Y'know…why don't we just stop delaying the inevitable and get this over with?"

"It would be my pleasure," Daralis nodded in agreement; taking her own stance. Twisting her blades in circles through her fingers, mage and rogue circled one another, unsure of who would make the first move. After several moments, Aianna hammered her staff into the ground, the earth below them started to shake violently. Daralis fought to regain her footing from the earthquake and Aianna used the time to begin casting a massive lightning storm. The air surrounding them became hot, melting the frost under their feet. Lightning sparked from Aianna's hands, almost engulfing her.

Jumping forward, Daralis hurled herself toward Aianna with her blades drawn in front of her. The quake began to settle down as Aianna's lighting spell increased in power. Dodging the lighting, Daralis swung her right blade forward and Aianna ducked down to the ground. She spun her body around and upwards to meet Daralis's left blade with her staff.

Daralis pushed forward into Aianna's staff, almost overpowering the physically weaker elf. Aianna, almost losing her footing, staggered backwards a few steps. The rogue smiled, watching the mage unable to match her strength. Daralis's right blade collided with Aianna's staff once more, sending Aianna to one knee. Daralis precipitously kicked Aianna's face, sending the mage backwards to the ground.

"Enjoyed that did you?" Daralis laughed stepping over the fallen mage. "Do you like the pain Aianna?" She held her blades above her head, formulating a final strike. Daralis paused seeing no fear on Aianna's face, only a simple smile. The lighting surrounding them continued to rage, a bolt striking Daralis in the back. She shrieked in pain falling over, piercing Aianna's right shoulder as she fell.

"Fuck…" Aianna groaned pushing Daralis off of her and grasping her shoulder. She stumbled to her feet gritting her teeth in pain. "Bitch…I will kill you." Daralis looked up at her, heaving and shaking in pain from the lighting strike. The tempest spell now long died out.

Balancing herself upright with her staff, Aianna raised her right hand above Daralis. Her body too was shaking from her wound. Electricity erupted from Aianna's right palm and the force pierced Daralis's whole body. Shrieking in pain, Daralis's back arched and shook violently while the electricity coursed through her. As fast as the shock had hit her form, Aianna stilled her spell. Slumping over in pain slightly before turning from Daralis.

"Antivan…whore…"Daralis spat out as she struggled to her feet slowly. Aianna turned around towards Daralis, more surprise than anger on her face. The young rogues body quivered in pain as she managed to push herself skyward from the ground. She pulled the small dagger that Aianna had given her earlier that evening from her belt.

"Cousland reject…" Aianna hissed rising her right hand once more. She intended to crush Daralis's skull this time, if death was what this fool rogue wanted. Daralis struggled to stand upright, seeing Aianna slowly casting an unfamiliar spell.

Instantaneously, Aianna hurled the manifested stone and Daralis propelled the dagger forward. The small blade pierced Aianna's left shoulder and she collapsed forward yelping in pain. The stonefist struck Daralis backwards, knocking her to the ground once again.

"Magister's sweet bloody whore!" Aianna shrieked as she grasped the small blade's handle embedded in her shoulder. "Fucking Void…Aahh…"she panted before pulling the blade upward and tossing it weakly toward Daralis. "Son of an Orlesian wet nurse that HURT!" Blood covered her robes from the nearly identical wounds on her shoulders. She rocked herself slowly in pain on the ground still cursing under her breath.

Daralis had nearly passed out from the impact of the spell against her chest, which forced all the air in her lungs outward. She laid on her back staring up into the sky, unable to move and writhing in pain. If not for her armor she was sure she would have a few broken ribs.

Both women lay a few feet away from each other, trying to overcome their injuries just as small snowflakes began to fall from the sky.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Honesty Tastes Horrible

9:31 Dragon – Open Field Outside Minrathous

Daralis was hesitant to rise to her feet in fear Aianna might be waiting to strike her down. But Aianna was too busy tending to her shoulder wounds to pay much attention to her. Aianna was the first to sit up, cursing under her breath while she forced herself upright. Her wounds were precariously treated with sloppy bandage work.

"I hate you…" Aianna growled, struggling to her feet with the help of her staff. "You spoiled little child…You have everything and you don't even see it. Free to live with mother, you even knew your father…" The young mage sighed leaning against her staff for support.

"Well," Daralis sighed, reluctantly sitting up to meet Aianna's gaze. "At least my father wasn't an Antivan merchant. Those buggers are annoying which explains…so much about you." Aianna looked back at her blankly for a few moments. A small smile formed on her lips and the elf quietly giggled. Daralis raised an eyebrow in confusion, resting against her knees on the cold ground. Aianna's giggling turned into full force laughter as she struggled to stay on her feet.

"Oh Maker…" Aianna gasped for breath between laughs. "That is almost too funny…not it isn't funny…" Aianna pulled back the loose hair from her face. "It's hilarious!" Daralis found herself giggling, catching Aianna's laughter. The two women laughed together for a few moments in the darkness.

As their laughter subsided and silence fell between them, Daralis found the strength to pull herself up from the ground. They passed each other awkward looks till Daralis broke the silence. "Let's just call this a draw, shall we?" Aianna nodded in agreement shifting her weight from her staff to her own two feet. "Tell…Sister." Daralis paused finding the word 'sister' not as distasteful as before. "What have you been doing to make all this coin?"

"Something that has gotten completely out of hand…" Aianna sighed shaking her head as if disappointed in herself. "I guess I have been on my own for so long I'm not used to listening to others. I am in this as deep as a fat dwarf sinking into a tar pit." The young mage's eyes wandered to the darkness and Daralis clenched her torso tightly from their earlier brawl.

"Fat dwarves do sink like stones…" Daralis nodded, laughing at her own extension of Aianna's analogy. Her eyes turned to Aianna arms cloaked in leather arm warmers that were now soaked in blood from her wounds. "Aianna…you took an apprenticeship didn't you?" The words stung Aianna's ears as she nodded in confirmation to Daralis. "And the reason you wear those arm warmers."

"Don't act like you haven't figured it out Dara," Aianna held up her hand shaking it in an 'enough' questions gesture.

"Blood magic? Really Aianna? Did you sell your soul to a demon in order to-!"

"Blood magic can be learned from a book, just like any other magic!" Aianna cut Daralis off. "Yes, it originally comes from demons! Yes! Blood magic is dangerous, just like any other magic!" Her tone was firm but not its usual callous tone. "I will not say I know what I'm doing because I don't. But I know all magic comes with risks…I am the bloody mage here. That is not why I am in too deep…" She trailed off palming her face into her hands.

"You really just wanted to help us…" Daralis breathed out slowly. She paused for a moment and watched Aianna curse under her breath in frustration. "What can I do?"

"What…?" Aianna looked up to her as if she didn't hear Daralis. "What do you mean?"

"What can I do to help you not sink like a fat dwarf?" Daralis smiled as if she was a child eager to please a parent. Aianna's expression changed from frustrated to annoyed. The mage shook her head back and forth. "I can help you Aianna! Whatever it is we can make it right."

"No," Aianna spoke firmly still shaking her head. "It's going to be settled tonight." Daralis crossed her arms like a disappointed child. "But…"Aianna trailed off a new thought coming to mind. "How would you like to go back to Ferelden?"

"Ferelden?" Daralis exclaimed turning back to Aianna.

"The Blight is over, Daralis!" Aianna smiled, "You can actually find work there, take care of Mother, and have a future. You and I both know that isn't possible for you to do here." Daralis nodded in agreement with Aianna's point.

"I want you to go home, pack up everything, and put it all by the door, alright? I have a really bad feeling about all this." Aianna stated in a monotone voice. "Don't ask me any questions now, don't ask me any questions when I get back, tell mother not to ask me any questions because I'm not going to answer them anyway."

Daralis opened and closed her mouth several times, feeling the intense desire to ask several questions. Eventually, she decided to respect her sister's wishes and simply cross her arms in defeat.

"Alright, sister. I'll go home and pack everything. I won't ask you anything-even though I really want to." Daralis replied, making note of Aianna shifting her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

Without another word, the two women parted ways; Aianna heading toward the place she had come to know well over the past several months, and Daralis heading home to fulfill her sister's wishes.

Daralis and their mother were sitting at the table when the entry door suddenly burst open, revealing a very battered, bruised, and bloody Aianna.

"Did you get everything together, like I asked?" Aianna panted, holding her side. Daralis noted that she was wearing a brand new maleficar's staff on her back.

Daralis nodded her head, and was about to ask a question when she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be asking any questions. Their mother, however, obviously hadn't remembered. Or didn't care.

"Aianna! What in the name of the Maker has happened to you?" Annalis quickly stood up, and made haste to her elder daughter's side, attempting to see what injury Aianna had sustained.

Aianna visibly cringed at the question. "Mother," Aianna said calmly. "We need to go. Now. Before they find us. Just act normal. We need to go." Aianna began to grab several of the packs by the door, occasionally tossing one to Daralis to put in her backpack. Satisfied she had everything they would need, she quickened her pace to the door, slamming it shut behind her. Daralis and Annalis quickly followed suit, hurrying to catch up to Aianna.

"Just keep walking. Not slow walking. Fast walking. Not running." Aianna said firmly, her concern obvious in her every move and word she spoke. The trio had made it nearly to the gate before they ran into any trouble.

"Hey! You! You're tha' magister's apprentice, ain't ya? Where's you goin' in th' middle of th' night?" The obviously drunken guard managed to say.

Aianna made a quick recovery from her shock, and said the first thing that came to mind. "Yes, I am indeed, good ser. This is my slave," she said, as she gestured to their mother, who shot Aianna a dark glare. "And this is my bodyguard, "Aianna stated fearlessly, gesturing to Daralis. "I am heading to the pass to sacrifice this slave in a blood magic ritual."

"Oh, er, alrigh' then. You's go on ahead. Although…th' slave don' seem too afraid of its imminent death, if ya know wha' I mean." The guard, even in the state he was in, could see that Annalis wasn't acting out the way a slave normally would.

"Mother, act distressed!" Aianna hissed through gritted teeth.

Annalis quickly understood. "Oh, please! Please don't take me! I don't want to go!" She screamed as she over-dramatically threw a hand over her face, pushing her head back toward Daralis.

"Heh. Tha's more like it! Good luck with tha' then." The guard stated, then turned to walk back to his post at the gate. As they watched him walk away, his footing got less certain with each step he took, until finally he fell face first into the dirt, snoring loudly.

"Let's go," Aianna said quickly. "Before someone else finds us and starts asking stupid questions." The two women nodded in agreement, before heading out the gate.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dead Men Hang High

9:31 Dragon – Nevarra, Silent Plains, Imperial Highway

"No, I refuse." Aianna stood firmly with arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "There is absolutely no way the two of you can make me go anywhere near the Free Marches." Daralis and Annalis both sighed simultaneously in frustration.

"Aianna Dayes." Annalis snapped, "This family is going to travel to Kirkwall, and we are going to take a ship to Highever port! Do you understand me?" The old elven women composed herself as she awaited her daughter's response.

"Yes mother," Aianna rolled her eyes. "I do understand. But I don't think you are hearing me. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Kirkwall!" The mage threw her arms into the air. "Do you hear me now, Mother? Do you understand me?"

"Don't speak to mother like that, Aianna!" Daralis interjected, coming between her mother and sister trying to stop a fight before one started. "We are all tired and frustrated. Let's just all…

"Dara," Annalis cut her human daughter off with a simple hand gesture. "Stop trying to play the favorite and move so I can see your sister's face!" Daralis shrugged stepping out from between them and leaned against the wall of the Imperial Highway. "You stubborn little child…" Annalis continued and pointed a finger into Aianna's face. "Do not make me tell you again!"

"You can sit here all day and repeat yourself mother," Aianna crossed her arms and turned away from her mother. "But I am not going to Kirkwall. We are going to travel south following the Imperial Highway and cut through the Heartlands into Ferelden!"

"It is less than a ten day walk to Kirkwall if we cannot get a ship in Cumberland and less than a two week trip to Highever from either port. If we head to Ferelden by walking around it will take us twice the time. Not to mention all the walking we'll have to do to go through the Frostback Mountains!" Annalis continued on, ignoring Aianna's interjection.

"I would rather walk three months straight than be caught by Templars in the Maker forsaken place!" Aianna cried out in frustration. "Mother! I am not just an apostate anymore…I'm considered a maleficar!"

"Which is your own fault, Aianna. Not my fault. Not your sister's fault. Your own damned fault." Annalis stormed off heading south down the Imperial Highway. Aianna groaned and looked to Daralis who only shrugged back to her sister. The two followed after the mother not saying a word.

Several weeks had passed since the Dayes family took ship from Cumberland to the Orlesian city Jader. The three women had stepped back into Ferelden just a week before and now travel in Bann Loren's lands, which was mostly nothing but thick forests. Daralis led their group knowing the lands of Ferelden the best, with their mother in the middle and an irritated Aianna bringing up the rear.

Daralis stopped abruptly looking up to the tree tops and letting out an intense scream. Before them at the highest branches of trees in front of them hung the decaying bodies of nearly a dozen men. Aianna stepped past her mother to stand near a mortified Daralis for a closer look. Her sister fell to her knees and vomited while Aianna studied the bodies the best she could from their distance.

Walking a little further, Aianna looked around the trees. She kicked loose twigs, leaves and dirt under the trees where a few of the bodies swayed. Daralis continued to vomit, dry heaving, while Annalis watched Aianna curiously. "Ah," Aianna spoke stumbling out of sight behind the tree trunk. "There she is…Might want to step back." With the sound of sliced rope one of the bodies fell to the ground less than a foot away from Daralis. The human woman shrieked and Aianna let out a laugh as she reemerged from behind the tree.

"AIANNA!" Daralis exclaimed struggling to stagger away from the rotting corpse next to her. "Are you mad? Why would you cut one of those things down!" Daralis turned away as the smell of the rotting body hit her nostrils. "OH Maker that smells!"

"First off," Aianna giggled. "One of those things is a he and second this is a Templar." She kicked the corpse onto its back. "And if you're wondering what that smell is, it's the gasses being released from the flesh because the body was moved."

"Darling," Annalis sighed as she tried to comfort Daralis. "That is disgusting…" Aianna snickered at the same time as she kneeled down over the corpse. She lifted the Templar's face plate revealing the man's eyes had had been cut out and his mouth sewn shut. Aianna quickly closed his face plate trying not to upset Daralis or her mother further.

"Whoever killed these men could still be around," Daralis coughed out between dry heaves. "We need to move." Aianna shook her head in disagreement.

"The body has long passed rigor mortis," she spoke standing to her feet. "And based on what I can tell on his decomposition and the weather I'd say he has been dead over a week. Whoever did this has long moved on."

"Well since they are Templars, maybe the person who did this is some crazy mage living in these woods." Daralis replied, also standing to her feet with the help of her mother. Aianna shook her head again.

"I don't think so," the mage said looking around the forest. "I don't feel the presence of another mage and I'm sure we would have already been attacked." Aianna handed her sister her flask of water and Daralis gladly took it. "When a patrol of Templars goes missing there is usually more that follow. But with this fresh blanket of snow we'll ever know if more passed by or not."

"So," Daralis sighed after taking a large gulp of water before handing the flask back to Aianna. "What does that mean for us?" Aianna shrugged taking the flask back and knocked back a swig of water before handing it to her mother.

"Nothing, this kind of sight is more common than you might think. Most likely whatever group killed these Templars are already dead or long gone. I don't see any cuts on this man besides his eyes. So I'm going to assume it was some form of magic that killed these men. Let us press on. Even if they are dead the sight of a Templar makes me nervous."

"Agreed." Annalis nodded handing the flask back to Aianna. "Aianna, you lead. Just in case there are mages ahead of us. Since you know what to look for or whatever…" Her words trailed off and Aianna nodded in agreement. The women continued pushing east toward Denerim.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Prowess of Mages

9:31 Dragon – Bann Loren's Land, Inner Forest

The three women agreed on continuing to walk through the night, with Aianna leading. She lit the way through the dark forest with a magical flame that pulsed from her right hand. Annalis shivered from the cold even beneath Aianna's borrowed cloak. Daralis too was shaking from the cold but, like her sister, wanted to continue through the night. The sisters figured between the two of them anything this forest could throw at them was not an issue.

The sudden sound of voices in the distance brought them to an abrupt halt. Daralis grabbed her mother and quickly knelt to the ground. Aianna clenched her hand closed and the flame vanished as she too fell to one knee. She turned back, gesturing a hand for Daralis to come closer. The young rogue crept forward a few steps, staying low to the ground till she sat next to Aianna.

"What do we do?" Aianna whispered to Daralis who shrugged.

"I can go on ahead and see what it is. I don't hear any movement, only voices." Daralis proposed and Aianna nodded. Their mother looked on in confusion and Aianna snuck closer to their mother as Daralis vanished into the darkness ahead of them. Aianna placed her pointer finger over her lips to Annalis and huddled close to her mother to try and share her warmth with her. A few moments passed with no sign of Daralis. Aianna's foot began to twitch in anticipation as her patience began to thin. Daralis slowly emerged from the darkness still crouching down to the ground. As she approached closer Aianna watched the forest behind Daralis.

"What is going on?" Aianna hissed in a low whisper.

"It's a mage," Daralis hissed back at her sister looking over her shoulder. "He's cornered by some Templars and trying to talk his way out of being captured or something… we should go around. They will not notice us if we…"

"A mage? What was he wearing?" Aianna asked raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Daralis exclaimed in a shrieking whisper. "There are six Templars less than twenty feet away cornering some apostate and you wanna know what fashion sense the mage has?"

"Stop patronizing me and tell me what the mage was fucking wearing!" Aianna snapped back in her own high pitched whisper. Daralis sighed turning back over her shoulder once again.

"I don't know, the kind of robes I've always seen mages in…not like yours…or the magisters in Tevinter…" Daralis paused realizing that Aianna was trying to figure out what kind of mage the man was. "His arms where clean, no cuts or scars…"

"Then he's an apostate…He needs help. They might kill him." Aianna hissed rising to her feet. Daralis grabbed her as she rose and dragged her back down to the ground.

"No. NO!" Daralis growled. "That mage could have been the mage that killed those Templars back there hanging in the trees. We are not getting involved in that…"

"Well," Aianna murmured, "You stay here with mother and I will go help him." With that Aianna crept away toward the direction of the voices. Daralis sighed turning to Annalis for help, who in turn pointed Daralis to follow Aianna. Reluctantly, Daralis followed behind Aianna into the darkness of the forest.

"There…" Daralis pointed to a clearing below them and Aianna looked down toward Daralis's direction. The two sisters looked down to see the fray of six Templars circling a lone blonde mage who was surprisingly laughing at the Templars. "Is he laughing? Why is he laughing?" Daralis asked, confused by what she thought was odd behavior.

"The fact that Templars are undereducated bullies who lack any sense of freewill isn't worth laughing?" Aianna questioned. "Then I don't know why he's laughing." She turned back to the Templars, seeing them closing around the mage. "We need to do something…I'll handle the three on right. Can you handle the three to the left?" Daralis nodded drawing her blades.

"No. Killing." She turned to Aianna with a serious expression. "I mean it Aianna. No killing!" Aianna rolled her eyes and gestured in agreement. Daralis narrowed her eyes and her lip formed a frown.

"Maker's Breath!" Aianna exclaimed, opening her hands out and Daralis could feel the magical energy forming from her sister's body. "I promise I won't kill them only knock them out…" Pushing her hands upwards Daralis watched as the three Templars to the right were pulled together by an invisible force. Their bodies slamming together, the men groaning in pain from the weight of their armor's momentum traveled through them. Aianna swiftly pitched her right hand upward into a fist and the three Templar's bodies were flung upward.

The sound of heavy metal echoed through the darkness of the forest when their bodies hit the ground. Daralis had vanished as Aianna finished her force magic spells. She watched from above while Daralis appeared behind two of the Templars, tapping them playfully on the back of their helmets. As they turned around quickly, she slammed their heads together as forcefully as she could. The two men fell unconscious to the floor. The last Templar pulled his sword toward Daralis and she stopped in mid-motion. Dropping her weapons and holding her hands above her head.

"You! Girl!" The Templar screamed, "Where did you com—AGH!" A stone projectile battered the Templar against his helm before he could finish his sentence and knocked him to the ground to join his comrades.

"That was extremely unpleasant…" the unknown mage sighed, lowering his hand from casting what Daralis now knew as the stonefist spell. He smiled at Daralis looking her from head to toe. "My, my, aren't you a nice-looking thing." He continued to smile walking closer to her. Daralis kicked one of her blades upward from the ground, grasping it firmly.

"This is your way of repayment for saving your arse?" Daralis spoke firmly pointing her blade in the direction of the mage. "I will not hesitate to gut you." The mage raised his hands slightly, the smirk gone from his face.

"Hey, hey," he exclaimed taking a step backwards. "Let's not be too hasty, my dear lady. I was simply commenting on the fact of how beautiful you are. If that is a crime somewhere then a thousand apologies…"

"Stop it Dara," Aianna hissed as she joined them at the hill bottom, stepping over one of the passed out Templars. "He's just trying to be nice. Not something you would know about." The nameless mage turned his gaze to Aianna and his handsome smirk returned.

"I knew I felt another mage nearby," He guffawed now giving Aianna a body check too. "Nice work with the Force magic, haven't ever learned any myself. Not too popular in Ferelden's circle." The mage stepped closer to Aianna's direction. "Thank you, my elven goddess for the untimely rescue."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Aianna Likes Her Men Human

9:31 Dragon – Bann Loren's Land, Inner Forest

The unfamiliar mage was, to Aianna's surprise, an incredibly handsome man. He stood a little under six feet tall and had dirty blonde hair. His eyes were almost the same color as his hair and the mage had a single gold earring in his right ear. But Aianna found his charming smile the most seductive thing around him.

"You may call me Anders," the mage grinned, taking Aianna's right hand and kissing it softly. "I'm sure if you and your…less lovely friend had not appeared I'd be halfway back to the circle now in shackles." Daralis rolled her eyes from his obvious over the top flattery.

"Maybe we should have just let these Templars take you," Daralis groaned crossing her arms in an apparent sign of annoyance. "I'm beginning to think we made a terrible mistake saving you."

"Don't mind my younger sister," Aianna smiled back to Anders. "Daralis doesn't have any manners when it comes to meeting handsome men like yourself." Daralis's jaw dropped hearing Aianna return this man's obnoxious flirting with her own.

"Mmmhh…" Anders playfully groaned looking Aianna over once more. "And an erotic beauty like you knows how to treat a man like me. Though, the thought of you and your sister treating me well does sound exciting." Aianna laughed biting her lower lip sensually.

"I am going to vomit…" Daralis groaned by this off-putting sight. "Again…" Aianna shot her an annoyed look and Anders laughed breaking the sexual tension in the air. Through the darkness, Annalis emerged slowly looking around.

"Maker!" Anders exclaimed as Annalis joined them to stand next to Aianna. "This must be my lucky day. First I'm saved from Templars taking me back to the Circle and second I am surrounded by three beautiful sisters! You just can't beat that!" Annalis smiled bashfully turning her head slightly into her palm to hide her blushing.

"Oh Maker," Annalis smiled. "What a nice young man you have found Aianna." She whispered loudly to her daughter. "I fear you are mistaken, Ser Mage. I am Aianna and Daralis's mother."

"You lie!" Anders continued. "You are far too young to have such grown women as your daughter. Perish the thought." Aianna and Annalis giggled together while Daralis felt a headache coming on.

"Oh in the name of King Maric can we please move on before all this flirting makes me want to kill myself!" Daralis exclaimed moving to stand between Anders and her family.

"Daralis…you do realize that King Maric's been dead for six years now right?" Aianna asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, should I have said 'Oh in the name of King Cailan' then?" Daralis shot back, pulling on the ends of her hair in obvious distress over the scene before her.

"King Cailan died at Ostagar…" Aianna grinned, crossing her arms across her chest, enjoying watching her sister squirm.

"SHUT UP AIANNA!" Daralis screamed, her voice cracking slightly. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Anders. But we really must be going!" She grabbed her mother and Aianna's wrists. She pulled them toward the east not looking back.

Aianna turned back and shyly waved to Anders and he returned her wave with his own. He stood still watching them until they disappeared into the darkness of the forest, contemplating if he might follow them, but instead decided to walk north toward Amaranthine.

"You are such a whore!" Daralis groaned as she threw a fresh log into the small camp fire. Aianna was taken aback by Daralis's abrupt outburst. "Your flirting with that mage was almost enough to make me vomit, again!"

"I am not a whore!" Aianna argued back waving a hand to as if to dismiss Daralis's comment. "I am promiscuous. There is a difference!" She proclaimed biting into a stale piece of bread. Daralis's jaw dropped unable to figure out exactly what she meant.

"What is the Maker's name is the fucking difference?" the rogue screeched out in frustration and just utter confusion. Annalis smacked the back of Daralis's head. "Ow…Mother!"

"The shoes are nicer." Aianna and Annalis both spoke together without skipping a beat. Then Daralis sighed closing her eyes and burying her face into her hands. She now realized exactly how much Aianna was like their mother. Aianna laughed at the sight of Daralis's distress.

"Aianna," Annalis spoke, offering Aianna another piece of bread. "You have a taste for human men, darling?" Daralis cried softly as those words left her mother's lips and Annalis rolled her eyes. Aianna snickered taking the bread from her mother.

"I know I am elven…" the young mage trailed off into her thoughts. "But to be perfectly honest I just cannot be with an elven man. I used to find them attractive…" Aianna glanced over to Daralis who still was hiding behind her hand. "After deflowering a few Templars, my taste changed. Human men are just so…what the word I'm looking for?"

"Large," Annalis finished for her.

"Yes! That's the perfect word. Large." Aianna smiled clapping her hands together in excitement and Daralis groaned louder. "Warriors are extremely large…"

"OH MAKER!" Daralis pleaded. "Will you both stop talking about this? Please?" Annalis and Aianna frowned but nodded in agreement.

"You are such a prude, darling." Annalis stated biting into her own slice of bread with strawberry jam. Daralis dropped her own slice from shock of her mother's outright cruel comment. Mother and daughter continued to tease Daralis throughout the evening.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Grass Isn't Always Greener

9:31 Dragon – Denerim Elven Alienage

Aianna held little love for the suspicious elves of Denerim's alienage and the even more suspicious humans that lurked in the shadows from time to time. The attention from Daralis's presence was putting a huge stress on the family with the constant teasing of stalking thug elves. Their mother was unable to leave the house in fear of being mugged.

Daralis had taken up the mantle of being the primary provider for the family to protect Aianna from being discovered. This fact wasn't stopping Aianna from leaving the tiny hovel of an apartment to settle into the back room of a tavern. She spent the evenings cheating unsuspecting men out of their coin in taverns over card games. The coin she was making could never compare to what she was making in Tevinter, but at least Aianna felt like she was contributing a bit even though one silver a night wasn't living up to Daralis's twenty a week.

Annalis stood quietly watching the fireplace while Aianna was pulling herself out of bed to prepare for her evening of pub hopping. The young mage glanced across the small one room apartment at her mother with concern. Annalis's small frame was becoming thinner and it seemed her hair was contracting more grey.

"Mama," Aianna spoke as she rose from her bed in nothing but her small clothes. She walked to stand next to her mother and pulled a hanging robe from the clothes line above the fire. "Have you eaten anything today?" She asked opening the short leather robe and pulling it over her shoulders.

"Yes...I have darling," Annalis smiled weakly to her eldest daughter. Aianna narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her mother as she closed the front of leather robes around her torso. Straightening the feathers on the shoulders of the robes, Aianna cracked her neck sharply before reaching for her leggings and arm warmers from the clothes line.

"There's no use in lying to me Mama," Aianna groaned pulling her right arm warmer over her wrist and up to her shoulder. "When Dara gets home I'll tell her you haven't eaten and we both know she will annoy you all night until you do." Aianna smiled as she stretched out her other arm warmer and slipped her left wrist inside. Before she pulled it up, Annalis stared blankly at Aianna's scarred left arm. The many healed slashes, scratches and cuts made her sick to her stomach, leaving Annalis feeling partially responsible for Aianna taking up being a maleficar.

Aianna knew her mother was staring at the old scars and quickly pulled the arm warmer up to her shoulder. Annalis sighed, turning from her daughter so she could finish getting dressed. Aianna looked out the window of their apartment to see that the sun was still out. She cursed under her breath for waking up early. Annalis handed Aianna a half loaf of bread and a mug of water. The bread was incredibly stiff and Aianna used the water to soften it, dunking the bread into the water for a few moments between bites.

There was a sudden knock at the door and both mother and daughter stood still. Aianna rose to her feet, staff in hand. Annalis gestured for her to relax and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" She spoke softly against the frame and deftly locked the extra dead bolt on the door. The reply was a harder, more insistent knock, this time betraying the sound of metal against wood. Aianna felt a shiver down her spine, realizing what lay in wait on the opposite side. There was a third knock which cracked the already weak entry point. Aianna gestured for her mother to move to another part of the room to keep her well out of the way of what she was about to do. She manifested lightning in her palms, casting it abruptly at the door, to which she distinctly heard a large set of armor, then another, crash ungracefully to the ground.

Aianna moved closer, staff in hand, between the door and her mother. With the heavy clanking sound of plated gauntlets against the already creaking door, it burst from its hinges and a Templar walked into the tiny apartment. He looked around the room with sword and shield drawn. His gaze met Aianna's. Before he could move towards them, his head was met with a stonefist spell Aianna cast. The Templar fell backwards against the wall, his helmet completely crushed and oozing blood.

"MAGE!" A voice called from the hall. "That's three of my men you've killed. Now you can walk out of this room quietly or we'll burn the whole building down."

"Take your offer and shove it Templar!" Aianna screamed back as she began to cast tempest. Electricity pulsed through her whole body ready to strike the next person to walk through that door. "I'm calling your bluff!"

"If we have to come in there mage, your family dies!" the voice echoed down the hall into the room. Aianna paused for a moment, feeling someone staring into the back of her skull, and turned to meet her mother's gaze. The middle aged elf was engulfed with fear. Hesitantly Aianna stayed her spell turning from her mother.

"Aianna…no…don't…" Annalis begged. "NO! Don't go with them! They will kill you!" She grasped Aianna's arm tightly. "Don't take my baby again!" Annalis fell to her knees at Aianna's feet. Two Templars walked inside the apartment cautiously to see the scene.

"Smart move mage," spoke the voice that had called from the hallway, who she now recognized as the Templar Captain. "It seems that those young elves were right, we have a blood mage in our midst." Aianna stared him down, breathing heavy with frustration.

The Templar Captain abruptly swung a fist at Aianna, striking her in the face. She fell to the ground with a loud groan. His heavy gauntlets had left her face bruised and cut. The other Templars picked her up swiftly, restraining her hands and followed the Captain out the door of the apartment.

Annalis was left alone shaking in disbelief that her daughter had been taken from her once again.

There was a crowd now gathering in the market, onlookers following them into the marketplace towards the Chantry. Aianna fell in and out of consciousness as the group of Templars dragged her bangle frame ever so closer to the Chantry. Her hand tightly bound behind her by an absurdly massive chain that it took three Templars to simply carry her. Blood covered her face, pouring from her lips and trickling down her neck and chest.

"Magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him!" The Templar Knight Captain called out as he led the group. "Foul and corrupt are they who have taken his gifts and turned it against his children!" He continued to chant, the other Templars joining in with him as they marched. As they reached the front of the Chantry, the Captain turned around and grasped Aianna's neck. He threw her against the ground and she squinted in pain.

"They shall be named maleficar, accursed ones…"

Aianna struggled to open her bruised eyes with her head firmly planted to the ground. She could faintly make out a smile on the Knight Captain's face. He swiftly kicked her with an armored boot in an attempt to make her scream. Aianna bit down hard on her tongue as she heard the most familiar verse from the Canticle of Transfigurations.

"They shall find no rest in this world or beyond," the Knight Captain finished, drawing his sword from within its sheath on his back. He reached down and pulled Aianna to her knees. "You have any last words, mage?" The Templar scowled down at her. Aianna fought to look at the Templar, to open her eyes, even just enough where she could see his face. She took a deep breath, and spat blood in his face.

"To the Void with all of you!" Aianna managed to force out with a faint smile. Blood stained her teeth and the corners of her mouth.

The Knight Captain solidified his hold around her neck, trying to choke her, wiping the blood from his face with his free ungauntleted hand. As Aianna felt her mind begin to slip into unconsciousness, she saw what she thought were chantry robes bursting out the front doors. Then everything around Aianna became dark and voices began to fade into silence. The last thought that ran through her mind was that she would die, here at the door steps of the Chantry.

"You! You can't do that here! This is the sacred ground of the Denerim Chantry! Take that mage elsewhere and kill her!" The initiate yelled from the top of the steps, throwing her arms up to the sky as if she was talking to the Maker Himself. "Take her to the Tower of Magi to be judged! It is the Tower's right to judge her. She cannot be judged here!"

"My hand will not be stilled for any of your corrupted thoughts! She will be judged by my hand and my hand alone. Begone with you!" The Knight Captain released his hold on Aianna's throat, and rolled her over onto her back. The Templar drew his sword high, blade pointed down, aimed at Aianna's heart. As he was about to bring an Aianna's life, he was tackled by someone in very shiny silverite plate armor.

"And what, by the Black City, do you think you're doing, Templar?" The man wearing the plate had managed to grab the Templar's blade and was now aiming it at its owner. "You will go. You will not take this poor elven mage." He stepped closer to the Templar glancing over to the now unconscious mage. She began to cough slightly and without medical attention she would surely choke on her own blood. "Begone with you, Templar. And Maker help you if I ever see you around again." The man in plate still had the blade aimed at the Knight Captain. His resolve was unquestionable though his identity was a mystery.

"No! She is a blood mage! She is to be sacrificed in order to cleanse this world!" The Knight Captain screamed frantically, though hesitant to step forward. "The mage dies!"

"Have it your way fool," The man turned from the Templar, stabling the loose sword to his feet and turning back to Aianna. "I, Aedan Cousland, Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden, hereby conscript this mage into the ranks of the Grey Wardens." He spoke, kneeling down over her and taking her into his arms. Firmly holding her head up so she could breathe, but blood still flowed from her mouth. He examined her face and realized her jaw was broken on both sides.

"You cannot do this, Warden! You don't have the right!" The Templar stepped forward pulling his sword from the ground and moving towards Aedan. The sound of a bow being drawn stopped the Templar mid swing.

"Your next move will be your last," A deep voice whispered from behind. The Templar turned around slowly to see a dark haired rogue dressed in fine leather armor pointing an arrow straight for the Templar's head. "The Grey Wardens do have the right enforced by the Chantry and the crown! Now off with you!" Slowly the Templar retreated to his small band of not-so-merry men and they fled the market in order to escape the warrior's rage.

"Little late Nathaniel," Aedan sighed as Nathaniel withdrew his bow and returned it to its sheath on his back. The two men watched at the Templars fled and the Chantry priests running off the on looking crowd. "Here," Aedan spoke turning to Nathaniel and gently handing a very wounded Aianna to his arms. "She needs a healer fast or she will not live for long."

"Ugh," Howe groaned, taking her and shaking his head with disgust. "Seriously, Aedan? A mage of all things."

"We need to replace a good mage we already lost to the darkspawn. This elf took a beating from all of those men and still had the nerve to be defiant to them. Did you see her spit blood in that Templar's face? Amazing." Aedan smiled, seeing Howe deepen his frown. "Let's take her to the compound at the palace for aid. Will you see to it while I meet with Alistair?"

"It doesn't sound like I have a choice." Nathaniel sighed, turning from Aedan and walking swiftly towards the palace. Both Grey Wardens knew that if Aianna was to live she would need a healer.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Life Turns Over

9:32 Dragon – Denerim Elven Alienage

Daralis arrived at the apartment, to immediately realize something was amiss. Papers were strewn everywhere, a smell of freshly burned wood in the air, and two men in plate armor lying in pools of blood outside the now nonexistent wooden front door. Daralis cautiously stepped over the two Templars in the entryway, stepped over yet another Templar in the hallway, and walked towards the kitchen, where recently cooked food lay on every surface. Slowly unsheathing one of her swords from her back, she snuck into the far corner, where a small quivering body sat.

"Mother! Mother what happened here? Are you alright? Where is Aianna? Why are there three Templ…?" She cut herself off, slowly piecing together all the pieces of the puzzle, and resheathing her sword and rushed to her mother's side. "Mother, where did they take Aianna?" Daralis felt her anger building at the gall these stupid Templars had. _Breaking into their home!_

"Daralis," Annalis said quietly. "Aia was beaten and dragged from here by Templars. From the sounds outside; I think they planned to make an example of her…" Annalis trailed off, obviously tired from crying. Daralis bolted from the room, out into the streets, hoping to hear at least one small shout from one of the Templars, or even Aianna screaming. But the alienage's streets were deserted. With her mother close behind; Daralis bolted toward the alienage's gate to the marketplace.

In the market a swarm of people were breaking away from around the front gate of the Chantry and without hesitation she pushed her way through. She did not care who she bumped into in the dissolving crowd. As she pushed through to the front the glint of bright silver plate caught her eye. The man stood tall talking to a Chantry priest not noticing Daralis. She frantically looked around and small drops of blood scattered about the ground caught her rogue eye.

"Daralis…?" the warrior in the silver plate questioned her. Daralis's and the warrior's gazes met, both with tears in their eyes. The brother that she had almost forgotten from what felt like so long ago. In the middle of his breast plate in gold lining was the Grey Warden symbol.

"Aedan!" Daralis screamed with a mixture of panic and fear in her voice. "My sister was taken by Templars…I…What are you doing here? Where is Aianna?" Daralis rambled on as a rush of emotion over took her and she buried her head into her hands. Aedan stepped back a moment seeing his sister distraught.

"Your sister?" Aedan raised a brow to her. "Wait...the mage?" His voice trailed off remembering whispers from his childhood about his half-sister having a sister of her own. Elven blood did run in Daralis's veins. "The elven mage with black hair?"

"Yes! Where is she! Mother said the Templars dragged her off and planned to kill her in the street to make some kind of statement!" Daralis sobbed as Aedan took her into an embrace. "I…can't…What is going on?" He held her for a moment remembering the past of a life he sometimes forgot.

"Dara," Aedan pulled her away grasping her shoulders firmly. "I came across those Templars not a few moments ago. They were about to kill her right here in this very spot we stand."

"Maker NO!" Daralis sobbed uncontrollably trying to shake away from Aedan. "Damn the Chantry!" His grips on her shoulders tightened and he shook her to regain her attention.

"I saved her Dara!" Aedan spoke loudly staring her down. "One of my men has taken her to a healer in the Grey Warden compound. Then she'll be moved to Amaranthine to take her joining." Daralis's crying ceased and a confused look set in and Aedan sighed softly. "I conscripted her into the Grey Wardens to save her life. Stepping in to save a mage from the Chantry's rights to judge goes against everything the order stands for unless we are recruiting…"

"You…did what?" Daralis backed away slowly from Aedan shaking her head in disbelief. "Aianna is going to become a…Grey Warden? No, no, no…I have to go see her. Mother will be worried and I have to bring Aianna home." Her voice was soft, monotone, and almost dead-like as she turned away from Aedan. 

"Dara," Aedan called to Daralis firmly. She stopped and sighed but refused to turn around to face him. "You can't see her right now. Maybe never. Your sister, Aianna was it?" Daralis nodded, tears running down her cheeks, her back still to Aedan. "Aianna can't go home, Dara. She has to do her duty now. She has a duty to the Grey Wardens." Aedan sighed, pulling his sister to his chest. "She'll be fine. I swear to you I will look after her."

"Aedan...Aldous taught us that being a Grey Warden is a death sentence in and of itself." Aedan nodded even though she couldn't see his face. "Aedan how could you?" She turned to him once again,

"Because she would have died, Dara!" Aedan raised his voice, the Commander of the Grey in him taking over. "Grey Wardens are needed, mage Grey Wardens are needed! I had a choice to let a mage live or die and I choose to give her LIFE!" Aedan cleared his throat, trying to shake off his anger from Daralis's selfish defiance. "You are a child, sister. You would not understand. I must go now."

Aedan brushed past Daralis, his expression blank and emotionless. To Daralis he appeared regal but also heartless as if he had seen the Void himself. In that moment she saw her brother's true face, true heart. Was it loyalty to the Grey Wardens that made his convictions so strong, or was it merely a distraction to something long since lost?

Daralis could see her mother wandering through the marketplace frantically searching for her or any signs of Aianna. With a deep breath she wiped the tears from her face and eyed Aedan as he walked past her heading straight into the market. As she bit her lower lip and reached for a dagger from her belt, she was hesitant to speak.

"AEDAN!" Daralis called to her brother that echoed through the market, people stopping once again. Curious of what sight might again be unfolding in front of the Chantry. Aedan stopped, now turning his own back to her. "You think I am a child because that is what you remember me as." She threw the dagger with precise aim abruptly. The blade sliced by Aedan's head just grazing his cheek. He turned around slowly, blood dripping down his face. Aedan's expression or composure had not changed.

"Conscript me." Daralis smiled holding her arms out to him to come at her. "If what you say is true about Grey Wardens being needed…Aianna and I am a packaged deal." She finished with a smile, truly hiding her fear for crossing a man who had stared death in the face once before.

"If you wish to be conscripted Daralis," Aedan spoke turning away from her once again. "Then make your way to Vigil's Keep in Amaranthine in four days and ask any Warden on the grounds for me…"

Daralis watched helpless while Aedan marched away without giving her a second look as she tried to piece together what had just happened. Offering herself as a recruit to the Grey Warden just to follow Aianna into what could be a death sentence. Daralis almost jumped out of her skin as her mother approached her from behind and touching her daughter's shoulder.

"Dara, babe…" Annalis whispered comforting to Daralis. The elven woman tugged her daughter slightly to try and gain her attention. "There is blood on the ground outside the chantry…What happened to Aianna…is she…"

"Aianna isn't coming back for a while, Mother…"Daralis trailed off. "And neither am I..."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Life Turns Over

9:31 Dragon – Vigils Keep

Aianna sprung abruptly up from the bed she lay in and desperately scoped the dark room in which she had found herself. She was naked and tucked warmly into a single bed in the small stone walled room. The only source of light was two candles placed next to the bed and a dwindling flame in the fireplace. Aianna pulled the thick blankets from her body and pulled herself to her feet. Her leather robes, socks, and arm warmers hung on a line above the fireplace. She found her boots and staff neatly placed against the wall right next to the fire place.

"Oh Maker…" Aianna whispered stumbling to the fireplace and struggled to pull her robes down. "What is going on...?" Her body ached everywhere and the pain in her head was excruciating, making it difficult to dress herself. She had barely managed to tighten the last buckle in the front of her robes before the door swung open. Aianna fell backwards and clumsily casted a lighting spell in the direction of the door.

"Maker!" A man's voice laughed as he dodged her attack by merely moving his head slightly to the left. "You really are a lively little thing aren't you?" The unknown man was dressed in gleaming silverite armor and surprisingly he was extremely attractive. Aianna staggered to her feet, almost scaling up the wall behind her.

"Maker! I must be dead!" Aianna screamed, grasping her head in disbelief.

"Why would you say that?" The man laughed again walking into the room and making himself confortable in a chair next to the door.

"Because," Aianna paused taking a deep breath. "Human men who kidnap elven women and trap them in a dark cold room with the intention to make them into sex-slaves are not as pretty as you are. The only explanation is that I am dead!" As she spoke another man stepped into the room. He wore fine leather armor and a finely made bow strapped to his back. The new unknown man had medium length black hair and dark brown eyes.

"I see that the mage is awake." He spoke turning to the other man in silverite armor. "Aedan, stop teasing before she tries to kill us both." The archer crossed his arms and leaned against the open doorway. The warrior, Aedan, only continued to smile as he watched Aianna fumble to get dressed.

"Howe," Aedan spoke in a deep whisper to the archer. "Do you think that means she's willing to be my sex-slave?" Howe responded by rolling his eyes and turning back to Aianna who was now completely clothed and tying her last boot lace. Their eyes met as Aianna stood up. His intense stare and stoic demeanor sent shivers down her spine.

"Aww," Aianna gasped turning from both men, trying to hide the obvious fluster. "There are two of you. I am really fucking totally dead…" She half-joked before reaching for her staff and strapping it to her shoulder. Aedan continued to laugh loudly at Aianna's antics while Howe rolled his eyes and walked out of the room without a word.

"Don't mind Nathaniel," Aedan snickered and rose to his feet. "He is a grim stick in the mud that spends too much time brooding and not enough time drinking." Aianna relaxed as Aedan gave her a look over from head to toe. "I must say I prefer your clothes off. Who would have thought under all that blood, bruises, and broken jaw was such a pretty face."

Aianna laughed nervously and continued to blush, though she was still extremely confused as to who this handsome man was and why she was here. As he continued to admire her curves, Aedan realized that Aianna must be baffled by the current situation.

"But I digress," Aedan spoke and his tone changed from teasing to more serious. "I have to inform you Aianna that I saved your life from the Templars that tried to kill you out in the market place. Which by the way you owe me a kiss for that." Aianna smiled licking her lips as if she could kiss him that very moment. "But to do so I conscripted you."

"Conscripted me?" Aianna laughed, still not fully understanding the seriousness of the situation. Though Aedan's obvious advances were not helping explain it. "Conscript me into what, a new elven division of priestesses to serve the Maker in all his false glory?" Aedan laughed once more for a few moments trying to regain his composure.

"I am the Warden-Commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden." Aedan spoke, having regained his serious composure once more. "You are to take your joining this evening as the rest of the new recruits arrive. Then you, the other recruits, and a senior Warden will be heading to Orzammar to accompany a dwarven expedition." A speechless Aianna stared back at Aedan blankly. Aedan patiently waited for Aianna to take in what he had just told her. The elven mage looked to the floor, eyes closed tightly.

"You are joking, right?" Aianna laughed brushing off Aedan's serious demeanor and headed to the door. "This has been a real treat but I have to get back to my family." Aedan swiftly snatched Aianna's arm as she passed him. His grip tightened causing the young elf to yelp in slight pain.

"This is not a joke, mage." Aedan whispered into a fearful Aianna's ears. "I am sorry that this has happened to you and I wish there could be another way." He let go of her and Aianna pulled back touching her arm tenderly where he had grabbed her. "If you refuse, you die. It is that simple…" After a few moments of awkward silence Aedan sighed deeply.

"I am…to be a Grey Warden?" a puzzled Aianna sighed as the pain in her head returned. "What about my mother…or…."

"As long as you are in Ferelden I will not forbid you from seeing your family." Aedan interrupted Aianna, touching her shoulder with an armored hand. "As long as you are committed to your duties as a Grey Warden and to this great nation."

"I don't have a choice do I?" Aianna remembered reading many different books about the Grey Wardens. The ultimate honor was also the ultimate sacrifice for them. Joining the Wardens was for life and for some she knew it wasn't by choice.

"I'm sorry," Aedan nodded, his grip on her shoulder tightening slightly. A few tears ran down her cheeks. "I know this is hard, Aianna. But Grey Wardens are needed, especially mages with as much power and finesse as you have. You will have a freedom you have never known." Aianna took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Well," Aianna sighed regaining her own composure. "If all the men in the Grey Wardens are as pretty as you are, then I will gladly join your ranks. It might be nice to be able walk around a market place without fear of being knocked to the ground and thrown in a cell." Aedan smiled and took her hand into his in a firm shake.

"Well then I welcome you Aianna Dayes." Aedan led her into the hallway. Nathaniel could be seen standing at the far end of the hall. His arms still crossed in annoyance to Aedan and his gaze still piercing Aianna as they approached. "Welcome to Vigil's Keep in Amaranthine, home to the Grey Wardens of Ferelden." As they passed Nathaniel he followed behind not speaking a word. Aianna glanced over her shoulder a few times as the group walked to only be met with a gut ripping glare.

"He's not one for conversation, is he?" Aianna asked walking closely to Aedan as if Nathaniel might tear her into two with his stare alone. Aedan held his arm out to Aianna and turned to look back at Nathaniel. He gave the archer a look of annoyance as if to say lay off. But Nathaniel's demeanor did not change. Aianna took Aedan's arm for comfort for her growing dislike for the rogue.

"No, not too much." Aedan agreed as they walked through a massive door into what Aianna figured was the main hall of Vigil's Keep. "Unless you are talking Ferelden politics or what materials make a stronger bow, no. As I said he's a stick in the mud." Aianna looked around and much to her surprise Daralis stood in the middle of the hall with a group of other recruits. Their eyes met, and Daralis quite literally bounded over to her.

"Oh Maker, Aianna! I'm so glad you're alright!" Daralis's arms wrapped tightly around Aianna's neck to the point that she could not breathe. "I can't believe your face isn't damaged from all those wounds you had! They told me that Templar had broken your jaw!"

"Dara…lis…you're…choking me. Please…let me go…" Aianna gasped for air as she fought to get away from Daralis. She pushed her younger, taller sister off of her and gasped for air. "You know it would take more than a few brainless Templars to kill me!"

"Hello Daralis," Aedan interrupted the sister's reunion. "I honestly did not think you would show. But here you are. A willing victim." Aianna looked to Daralis with a raised eyebrow and her human sister smiled back nervously. "Might be nice to have my own sister in the Wardens." Aedan snickered as he walked by them towards the group.

"Wait…" Aianna sighed shaking her head. "You volunteered for this? What does he mean by sister? I'm not his sister and neither are you. What in the Void is he talking about?" The young mage demanded and Daralis continued to smile nervously.

"Yes…I did volunteer for this…" Daralis began and Aianna threw her arms into the air in disbelief. "Also, Aedan is kind of…my brother…" Aianna crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes toward the young rogue.

"Kind of your brother?" Aianna interjected.

"Yes…kind of my brother like you are kind of my sister…" Daralis stuttered backing away from her sister slowly. "See, you and I have the same mother but different fathers. Meaning we are half-sisters…" She continued still stepping backwards. "Well, Aedan and I have the same father…different mothers…"

"You mean to tell me that he is a Cousland?" Aianna screamed and Daralis nodded slowly awaiting her sister's impending explosion. "What are you fucking thinking volunteering for something like this? I bet you ran off without even telling mother….I'm sure she tried to talk you out of it and you left anyways, right?" Daralis again nodded silently and Aianna screamed in frustration. The elf grabbed a wad of Daralis's hair pulling wildly. "You stupid little bitch! Mothers going to blame me for this!"

"Gggaaahhh! Aianna let go..Ahh! I'm sorry!" Daralis pleaded in-between yelps of pain as Aianna continued to pull violently at her hair.

"NEVER!" Aianna screamed taking her free hand and grasping another wad of Daralis's hair. As the two continued this horrible sibling fight Aedan and Nathaniel watched from across the room.

"Maker," Aedan smiled. "Look at those two. Childish…But I will say there is nothing childish about Aianna. What do you think, Howe?"

"I think you're an idiot." Nathaniel sighed turning from the spectacle before them to the small group of other Grey Warden recruits. He did not want to bother himself with any of this on coming drama.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Darkspawn

9:31 Dragon – Vigils Keep

"All of you have been brought here to answer a calling." Aedan addressed the new recruits with Nathaniel still standing silently to the side of the throne room. Daralis watched her brother in awe as he continued. "That calling is the highest of honors and the greatest of sacrifices. You all have been chosen to submit yourselves to the taint to protect and serve your people, nation, and world from the constant threat of the darkspawn." Aedan took the silver chalice from its pedestal next to him and raised it before the group.

Aianna was overcome with a mixture of anticipation and fear. She felt Daralis clutch her left hand tightly as she too was feeling a bit of fear. She returned Daralis's grip with her own, their fingers entwined around each other firmly.

"Join us brothers and sisters!" Aedan continued as he stepped down from the throne. "Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you." Silence fell over the group as he finished. Aedan scoped the group, eyeing each one carefully to select the first to drink from the chalice.

"So," A young elven man, Seeai interjected. "This joining can kill us? I don't remember signing up to drink some poison! Better chance against the city guard!" He turned his back from the small group towards the throne room's main exit. They all watched him walk away cursing under his breath.

The sudden sound of a bow string pulling back and an arrow piercing Seeai from behind echoed through the room. The elf gasped in pain falling forward. He scrambled wildly on the floor trying to reach the arrow in his back. The group continued to watch while Seeai's movements began to slow and the life left his body after several minutes. Aianna had turned back to see Nathaniel holding his bow to his side. His eyes met hers with an icy glare than sent a cold shiver down her spine.

"He…"Daralis gasped. "He killed him…without a second thought…" She looked to Aianna for some comfort but was greeted with none. "Why? Why did he do that?"

"Because," Aianna smiled her eyes fixated on Aedan. "It's do or die, Dara. This is just like the circles…obey or die." She turned to her sister. "You should have stayed home Daralis…"

"I am sorry for Seeai." Aedan stepped closer to the remaining four with the chalice still in hand. "As Wardens you will pay a price. Either now or later." He turned his gaze to Cage, the human rogue from Gwaren. The young man stepped back in fear at first until Aedan nodded for him to step forward. Cage stood before Aedan shaking in horror. "From this day forward Cage, you are a Grey Warden."

"If I die," Cage paused taking the chalice into his hands. "Will you write my mother in Gwaren and let her know I am with the Maker?" Aedan nodded slowly not saying a word and Cage smiled. He raised the chalice to his lips. A strange sensation overcame Aianna as she watched. The blood inside the chalice was connected to magic.

Cage handed the chalice back to Aedan and looked up to the ceiling. He screeched in pain abruptly and clawed wildly at his throat. Aedan stepped back closing his eyes as Cage began to die at his feet. Daralis shielded her eyes into Aianna's shoulder while the young mage continued to watch. Cage fell to his knees still grasping at his neck and reaching up to Aedan for help. After a few moments he collapsed onto the floor.

"Aianna," Aedan spoke stepping over Cage's body in her direction. "Step forward." Daralis was washed over with the feeling of regret when Aianna let go of her hand. She watched in horror as her elven sister stood before the brother she did not recognize. "From this day forward Aianna, you are a Grey Warden."

"Either now or later I suppose." Aianna sighed taking the chalice from Aedan with a sigh. "Just don't bury me in a shallow ditch. Hate for my remains to be some wolf's lunch." With a cocky smile she sipped the blood almost choking as she handed the cup back. A sudden sharp pain flooded her body sending her forward from the shock. She shrieked in pain and Daralis wanted to spring to her side. Deep muffled voices filled Aianna's ears as the pain continued to ravage her body. She slowly stumbled backward and collapsed to the floor.

"Aianna…" Daralis whispered stepping forward. She kneeled down next to her sister and touched the base of Aianna's neck. Daralis felt the faint beating of Aianna's heart and she sighed in relief. Aedan leaned down to Daralis with a faint smile.

"She lives…good…" Aedan smiled as they rose to their feet. "Daralis…it is your turn." He sighed heavily passing the chalice to her hesitantly. "You wanted to follow her to this fate. Now take this and become a full sister. My equal as you have always deserved."

"Aedan…" Daralis murmured tears welling up in her eyes as she took the cup from his shaking hands. The first sign of emotion since this whole ordeal had started shown from him allowed Daralis's fear to melt away. "I am honored." With that Daralis took a deep sip of the chalice and silence fell over the room.

Daralis awoke to the sound of Aianna cursing and she sat up abruptly to find her elf sister on the floor. Aianna glared at her as she pulled herself to her feet then back into the bed. Daralis realized she had pushed her sister out of the extremely small bed they had been sharing.

"Sorry Aianna," Daralis smiled laying back down and helped pull the heavy blankets back over Aianna. "I am a bit of a kicker in my sleep."

"Ah," Aianna sighed turning her back to Daralis and pulling the blankets over her head. "It's fine. That's not the first time someone has kicked me out of bed in their sleep…I'm sure it won't be the last." Daralis rolled her eyes to her sister's obvious comment to try and get under her skin. The human girl closed her eyes hoping sleep would take her but after a few moments she sat up again.

"Aianna?" Daralis spoke softly turning to her sister.

"What?" Aianna moaned in annoyance. "I am trying to sleep Daralis…"

"Did I do the right thing? By following you here…Joining the Grey Wardens with you…?" Her voice trailed off and tears streamed down her face. Aianna sat up and turned over to Daralis with a heavy sigh. The elf wrapped her arms around Daralis and pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know Dara…I'm used to not having choices…"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Howe Can You Be Such An Ass?

9:31 Dragon – Vigils Keep

The following morning Aianna found herself up before the sun and decided to go explore their new home. After roaming the empty halls of the Vigil, she found her way outside to the shop grounds. Though Vigil's Keep was a fortress for the Wardens, thanks to Aedan's efforts and good business sense, there were a few misplaced merchants outside the doorstep of the fortress. As dawn drew closer the merchants had already begun to set up their shops.

"Excuse me." Aianna asked a passing dwarf carrying a large barrel over his shoulder. "Can you tell me where the training grounds might be?"

"Ah," The dwarf groaned as he continued to walk with Aianna not far behind. "You must be one of the new Wardens…The sparring area and range are through the back gate around that pillar over there." He pointed after throwing the barrel down in front of what Aianna assumed was his shop area.

"Thanks," Aianna nodded, walking by him with a nod toward the pillar.

"Warden," The dwarf called to her and Aianna turned around to catch a tossed apple in her direction. "A little welcome present. Next one you'll have to pay for. Bit of advice. Master Nathaniel is at the range area this time in the morning. Likes to be alone."

"Thanks for the tip…" Aianna smiled biting into the apple and moaned softly to sweet fresh taste. "Also thank you for this. Haven't had anything this fresh in years…" The dwarf laughed as Aianna sped away in a sprint toward the pillar and devouring the apple as she did so. Around the pillar a single guard in familiar silverite stood watch. She smiled to the middle-aged guard, apple juice smeared across her face.

"You may pass, Warden." The guard snickered pushing the heavy wooden door open for her and Aianna smiled back as she passed, wiping the juice from her lips with the back of her right hand. The sun was just rising as she walked down the stonewall path towards the back of the Vigil. The young mage found it odd to be up so early and came to the conclusion she would not make a habit of it.

The recognizable sound of a bow string being drawn hit her ears as she entered the training area. On the left side of the training ground where Aianna entered were weapon stands full of short swords, long swords and an assortment of badly damaged training daggers. The space was very open and Aianna swore she saw a few blood stains in the dirt. To the right were five straw stuffed dummies placed side by side against the tall outer wall. Within the shadow of the large stone wall stood a brooding Nathaniel Howe.

Aianna observed him silently thinking she remained unnoticed to him. Nathaniel drew a black feathered arrow from a black leather quiver strapped to his back. With ease, he placed the arrow between the nocking point of the string, drew and aimed the bow with precision. The young mage watched Nathaniel in awe as soon as he released the arrow's end, and with lightning force breached the head of a training dummy between the eyes.

"Is there something that I can help you with, Mage?" Nathaniel spoke blandly, drawing another arrow from the quiver. Without even taking the time to glance over to Aianna he drew his bow once again. This shot just faultless as the last.

"I was…just looking around…" Aianna frowned scratching her head. "Is it some kind of crime to take a look around the Vigil?" She snorted sarcastically as she quickly decided to test the boundaries of Nathaniel's patience. "Excellent arrow work. Nice form. Very easy to hit a motionless target." Aianna took a seat behind him on an old wooden bench.

"Wonderful," Nathaniel sighed finally turning around to meet her gaze. "What is it with mages having the most impeccable timing to cause annoyances?" Aianna grinned almost sinisterly back at him leaning back a bit and cocking her head to the side. "Are you some kind of lesbian mage? All those tattoos on the left side of your body seem to have a manly quality to them."

"Excuse me?" Aianna growled ascending to her feet, and quickly closing the gap between them. "I will have you know, Howe." She angrily poked him forcefully in his chest. "That I happen to like both women **and** men! Although that is none of your business! So you can take your rude comments, and your bow, and shove them up your ass!" Nathaniel calmly moved closer to her and reached for an extra quiver placed against the old bench. He slowly leaned down to Aianna's smaller level.

"You are very pretty when you are angry," Nathaniel whispered softly into her ear in a deep rough voice that sent a shudder through lengths of Aianna's body. He pulled away from her, slinging the extra quiver over his shoulder and walked away without another word. A strange numbness had overcome Aianna that she had never experienced before. Her face felt hot, her mouth was dry, and her knees seemed as they might give out from under her.

"Aianna! Aianna!" Daralis's voice echoed from behind her quick footsteps that suggested she was running became louder as she approached. "Maker's breath! There you are! Perfect! Aedan is coming! He's coming out here now! My brother! The Warden Commander! Isn't that amazing?" Daralis exclaimed turning a corner into the training ground, nearly tripping from her excitement. "Aianna? What's wrong with your face? It's all red…Are you sick?"

"Andraste's ass!" Aianna shook herself back rubbing her face quickly to hide her embarrassment. "I am fine! What is wrong with you freaking about your bother coming down this way?" The young mage crossed her arms and looked her little sister over with a raised brow.

"He wants to see what I can do now! It's been almost a year and half since I've seen him and I've gotten so much better! He's gonna what us to spar! So PLEASE go easy on the magic?" Daralis continued on with her spastic banter leaving Aianna almost speechless.

"I'm sorry…" Aianna closed her eyes and stuck her pointer fingers in each ear. "I must have some nug shit in my ear. I though you said something about holding back my magic in a sparring match with you?" She pulled her fingers out dramatically and laughed equally sarcastically.

"PLEASE AIANNA!" Daralis begged grasping her hands together and falling to her knees before her sister. "I just want my brother to be proud of me! But against your magic I do not stand a chance to impress him! Please Aianna! Do this for you little sister who has never asked anything from you!"

"Oh Maker!" Aianna stepped back as Daralis grabbed the end of her extremely short robes and clenched them tightly. Her robes slid down her legs slightly and she went to repeatedly smack Daralis's head. "Stop it! Are you trying to show everyone my goods? FINE! I'll go easy on the magic! Shit!"

"

Thank you!" Daralis sprang to her feet and wrapped her arms around Aianna's neck. She picked the small elf up nearly a foot off the ground. "I love you sister! I promise I will make this up to you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Put me down!" Aianna screamed trying to wiggle herself free from Daralis's iron grip hug. "You crazy human bitch! Let go!" In that moment Aianna slipped through Daralis's arms and landed end first against the frozen solid dirt. The mage landed hard and screamed in pain.

"Sorry…" Daralis smiled stepping back from her sister.

"You did that on purpose!" Aianna cried looking up at Daralis with eyes filled with tears from the pain. "I fucking hate you and your abnormal human height!"


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

A Quick Lesson on Magic

9:31 Dragon – Vigils Keep Training Ground

"You bitch!" Aianna continued to complain as she dusted dirt off her backside and legs. Daralis giggled with excitement seeing Aedan approaching down the path accompanied by an unfamiliar young man. Aedan was wearing nothing more than dark leather pants, dirty riding boots and an opened loose black shirt.

"Good morning ladies," Aedan smiled pulling a small brown bottle from his pants pocket. "Lovely Ferelden day for a sparring match." His gazed turned from Daralis to Aianna. Each girl found themselves basking in Aedan's alluring awe but in much different ways. Daralis merely found herself with a case of a hero complex in the presence of her older brother. While Aianna was more interested in what was underneath Aedan's clothes.

The young mage gulped hard the closer they approached, biting her lower lip tightly feeling an arousal creep up her spine. She admired Aedan's muscular build; the sweat from the morning ride still clinging to his body which almost seemed to overexaggerate the fine lines of his toned chest. Aianna watched his large hands nervously as he grasped the tiny bottle firmly pulling the cork open and bring the bottle to his lips.

"This is Carver," Aedan gestured to the unknown young man standing beside him that had gone completely unnoticed by the sisters due to Aedan's overpowering aura. "He was recently recruited into the Wardens before the two of you. He will serve as a Senior Warden, a bit of a mentor on your expedition tomorrow along with Nathaniel." Carver nervously smiled to both girls who returned to favor before returning their attention to Aedan.

"So," Aedan snickered realizing the undivided attention both girls were giving him. "Let's begin shall we?" He extended his hand to the open area taking a seat on one of the many wooden benches lining the wall. Daralis shoved Aianna to bring her back from her fantasy and the mage groaned nauseatingly.

"You just want us to fight?" Daralis asked apprehensively as she pulled her mismatched daggers from her belt buckle following Aianna out into the open fighting area. Her brother nodded sipping on the small bottle once more before passing it to Carver. "Any rules?"

"One," Aedan grinned mockingly to Daralis. "Don't die."

Aianna laughed pulling her staff from her back and tossing her cloak to the ground. Her staff was less than a foot shorter than her and Aedan watched her curiously. The staff was made from polished black steel; the bottom was bulky, wrapped and tied in a leather cloth. A blue crystal, clasped in what appeared to be a clawed hand, pulsated with magical energy that was setting on top of two sharp points made to the top of the staff.

Aianna stooped down to one knee resting the staff on her right shoulder. She untied the leather wrap covering the bottom of the finely made staff, revealing a thick curved blade that made up a little less than half of staff. The mage rose to her feet, staff tightly clenched in her right hand. With the same smooth movement as that of water cascading down a stream, Aianna rotated the staff between her hands, around over her head, and finally spinning the staff down into the ground blade first with both her hands. Light lighting burst out and upward from the cracks in the grounds around the blade.

Daralis rotated her daggers between her fingers, exceeding Aianna's speed tenfold. The humming of her blades spiraling in her hands and the sound of cracking lighting gave Daralis a spike of adrenaline for the oncoming encounter. She stood ready, blades drawn before Aianna standing on her toes and hopping slightly in place while she awaited the mage's first move. Though Daralis knew that patience was not her sister's strong point and that Aianna would always make the first strike.

A malevolent laugh escaped Aianna's lips as she held her left hand up before her. Her fingers curled and twitched as lighting manifested and melted into sparks to the ground. She then pulled her staff from the ground rapidly and bolted all of the lighting energy toward Daralis in the form of a single bolt. Daralis flipped her body backwards twice to avoid the spell that struck where she was formerly standing. The ground barely left any kind of indentation from the point of impact of the spell.

Daralis looked at her sister curiously. Aianna's immense display of her power but little force behind her strike was not part of her persona. Aianna stood ready with staff in hand for Daralis to strike at her, whilst the rogue made an obvious realization. Aianna intended to hold back on her magical attacks after all but still wanted to demonstration her own power and usefulness to Aedan.

"Come on then Dara!" Aianna yelled, pointing the blade end of her staff toward Daralis, a threating smile across her face. "Oh Maker I think I just turned twenty years old waiting on my baby sister to make an attack!" Aianna once again smashed the staff into the ground leaving both her hands free. With a rotation of her hands, fire materialized at her fingertips. Almost as if she were dancing, the mage moved her arms toward her then shot them up toward the sky. A circle of fire blazed around the length of the sparring area. "Baby sister needs to show us what she can do!"

Daralis regained her battle stance with blades drawn. The heat from the fire around her made sweat form at her dark brown hairline and the rogue charged forward instantly. Aianna in turn grabbed her staff, pulling it from the ground at her right side; she too advanced towards her opponent. Their weapons met in a clash of metal; the flame around them vanishing instantly. Daralis pushed her, forcing all body mass into her strikes that were instantly blocked by Aianna's staff. The mage felt her feet slowly move backwards, struggling to hold the much stronger rogue off with mere strength.

Matching steel blue eyes met, weapons and arms shaking with strain, and the two sisters locked gazes. Daralis smiled confidently taking a small but forceful step forward, pushing Aianna even further backwards. She looked to the ground quickly then caught her sister's eyes once more. With a deep inhale Aianna hammered her forehead against Daralis's causing them both to lose their balance. In opposite directions the girls fell backwards; Daralis shaking her head madly. She looked up to see Aianna struggling to recover from the head blow and decided to strike.

Daralis sprang to her feet, and with lighting speed slashed Aianna's right arm, leaving merely a long scratch from the mage's shoulder to her forearm. The rogue raised her right foot high, connecting with the left side of her sister's face. The elf's body hurled backward, her back hitting the ground hard as she let out a scream of pain. Aianna's vision was blurred and her head was spinning from the three consecutive head blows. Aianna knew her staff lay on the ground next to her, and she rolled over to her left side fumbling blindly on the ground feeling for it. The young rogue jumped up into the air in her victory and turned to their onlookers with a smile.

"AEDAN!" Daralis yelled grinning from ear to ear. "Did you see that?" Aedan nodded, smiling weakly back at her as he noticed the grounded mage inching towards Daralis. Aianna's vision was now clear and her wrathful nature consumed her rational thought process. She grasped Daralis's left ankle, clawing into the leather of the rogue's boot with her nails. Daralis felt the small tug and looked downward.

The blood leaking from Aianna's arm took on a life of its own as the droplets clung to Daralis's boot and were slowly inching their away up her skin toward her torso. The mage's eyes glowed red while more blood flowed from her wound up the rogue's body. Daralis was paralyzed and let out a shriek of pain, the blood burning every inch it touched on her body. Aianna finally released her sister's ankle, the blood dripping down off Daralis's body. The human girl fell to her knees shaking in the after effects of the pain. Aianna pulled herself upward by grabbing her sister's shoulder. The mage leaned into her sister's ear breathing heavily.

"I know that hurt Dara…" Aianna whispered with a heavy sigh. "But I hope that this teaches you a lesson about magic and never turn your back on any mage unless they are dead." The elf hugged her sister from behind and resting her head against Daralis's back. "Because that pain you felt just now is only the tip of what I can do."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

My Sister, My Brother

9:31 Dragon – Vigils Keep

"I remember why I hate you," Daralis sighed, grabbing Aianna's arm tightly and pulling her to their feet. "I see what you are getting at and I may have gone a little overboard with that…" Aianna nodded in agreement picking her staff up from the ground licking her dry lips. She tasted blood and immediately felt the right side of her lip. The feeling of a sharp pain shot through her body as she thumbed what she realized a deep cut down both her lip. As Aedan approached them the young mage pulled a small compact mirror from her pocket and shrieked at the slight of the wound. The thought that it might leave a scar on her flawless face enraged her.

"Holy sweet child of the Divine!" Aianna whimpered still peering at her reflection through the tiny mirror. "This is going to leave a scar! You bitch! First you scar me twice on each shoulder and now my face…oh Maker my pretty face!" She snapped the compact closed and angrily stuffed it back into her pocket. Daralis merely smiled nervously back to the hopping mad mage.

"You scarred my back…but I guess it was your turn to give me a scar, right Aianna?" Daralis stuttered stepping backwards slowly from her enraged sister. "So next time we try to kill each other you can give me two scars?"

"Yes, they will be your EYES!" Aianna reached toward Daralis attempting to snatch a dagger from her belt but Aedan intervened by grabbing the young mage's shoulder.

"Nicely done ladies," he smiled calmly moving himself between the two women; slipping the small brown bottle into his pocket. "First, Daralis…your daggers are a bit dull. Take them by the forge to Master Wade and have him sharpen the blades for you alright? And Aianna…" Aedan picked pull the heavy mage staff from the ground. "This is a very unusual mage staff…a blade at the end and these sharp points at the top?"

"It is a Tevinter mage staff…" Aianna answered as he handed the staff back to her and strapped it to her back in its holster. Daralis decided to sneak away while her brother occupied Aianna so that she might save her eyes from being taken as a prize. "I…acquired it from a magister before we returned to Ferelden last year."

"Its heavy…it must weigh as much as a long sword." Aedan smiled as the two walked together toward the stone path that would lead them to the front of the Vigil. "I can tell that it was made for a human mage. It's far too long for your shorter frame, but you still handle it quite well." Aianna still upset about her bleeding lip merely bowed her head in acknowledgment to Aedan's compliment.

As the two continued to walk up the path far behind a sprinting Daralis; Aedan looked over the young elf next to him with quiet approval. She was indeed a skilled and powerful mage and the Wardens were in need of mage that did not merely heal the wounded. But he found her obscene behavior and her striking beauty quite appealing.

They reentered the front of the Vigil's courtyard, which was now in full swing; Amaranthine locals buying and trading goods, and the Silver Order keeping a watchful eye among the crowd. Aedan pointed back to the Vigil for Aianna to seek the aid of a healer for her lip and the young mage hurried her way toward the Keep. Unbeknownst to them, from across the courtyard Nathaniel Howe was watching them quietly, his face still holding the sharp scowl from that morning. The archer's eyes followed the young mage as she parted ways from the Warden Commander.

Aianna paused halfway up the stairs, feeling as if she was being watched and slowly turned her eye toward the large mob of people. All their faces seemed to blend together into a large blur with the exception of a set of dark brown eyes watching her from the far end. She immediately met eyes with Nathaniel leaning against the outer wall of the Vigil, arms crossed. The two watched each other for a few moments, Aianna more out of curiosity till Nathaniel finally broke the stare by merely walking out of the great gate. This piercing stare left Aianna a bit shaken but none the less she made her way into the Vigil.

"I don't know who taught you how to heal, my friend." Aianna angrily stepped out of the infirmary, shouting back to the fellow mage that had treated her wound. "But maybe you need to rethink your choice of profession! My lip looks like a carved turkey!" She then turned on her heel heading down the hallway past the throne room to front exit of the Keep. Aianna grumbled under her breath, her walk quickening the more her annoyance festered. In fact she was glaring at the ground while she walked, not seeing Aedan leaning against the door frame of the throne room when she passed.

"Why so angry?" Aedan snickered when Aianna stormed passed him and she abruptly stopped. The mage sighed reluctantly turning around to him. A frown covered her mouth and her watery eyes suggested she might have been crying. Aedan approached her quickly to comfort her, whatever trouble there might be. After all, it was in his nature to play the hero to any maiden in distress.

"I am ugly!" Aianna wailed almost incoherently covering her mouth with trembling hands. Aedan laughed at the very thought of her calling herself ugly and his snickers made the young mage sob harder. "This scar on my face makes me look like a butchered deer!"

"I think it gives you character…" Aedan smiled seductively touching the small scar with his thumb and tracing the outline of her lips. "Besides, a little lipstick would cover that right up." Aianna's tears subsided and excitement over took her. "But if you really think that scar makes you look ugly…how about I show you how beautiful I really think you are?"

"What did you have in mind?" Aianna licked Aedan's thumb playfully moving closer to him. Aedan smirked, gently pulling Aianna into the throne room and closing the large doors behind them.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A Look into A Mother's Heart

Entry from the Personal Writings of Annalis Dayes

_Late Fall - 9: 31 Dragon _

_ The many secrets I have kept for almost twenty years have crept back bit by bit with each of Daralis's birthdays. How can a mother live day in and day out lying to her children? What a horrible mother I have been to them all. My actions have determined the course of their lives even before birth. My mother always told me to never have children. Said I was too disturbed and now in my late years I'm beginning to realize what she meant. Would Daranne even have loved my children? Her granddaughters are the apostate mage, the human bastard, and the unknown son…Maybe I can take comfort in the fact that I will never know._

_ Aianna has more of me inside her than I realized. She carries the weight of her own secrets. I can tell my daughter hides behind a facade because it is the same con that I too hide behind. But Aianna did once tell me a story, a dark secret from her time in the tower. She was besotted out of her mind one evening, grasping a bottle of cheap whiskey. Those are the only times I can see her father in her, drunk. I asked her why she had changed so much. To change from such a quiet mild mannered child to grow up into a manipulative short sighted woman._

_ She told me a horrible story about an elf girl she grew up with in the tower, just a year younger than her. A new Templar from Orlais had transferred in just after Aianna's graduation into full mage hood. Some kind of test she called a Harrowing. This Templar had a liking for elven girls, young girls. He was preying on the apprentice mages, some as young as six years old. Aianna said her friend was only one of his many victims, but was the most deeply affected. The young mage defended herself against this Templar, killing him accidently. She was accused of being a blood mage and put to death right on the spot. Aianna watched as the Knight Commander hacked the young mage's head from her shoulders. My daughter was laughing and crying as she told me this._

_ Aianna may truly be disturbed. As I am._

_Daralis's entire existence itself is one well known secret, and I am to blame. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if Vlash Rosewood had been Daralis's father instead of Bryce Cousland. She would have been born an elf, no torment, no teasing, and no constant reminder of shame. Unfortunately, day dreams and actual fact are never on a fine line with each other. Bryce was a good man. A good father. I don't know if Daralis would have turned out so innocent if it had not been for him in her life._

_Men. So many men have come and gone in my life. Even the fathers of my children. Deon Dumnant, Maker forgive me, may he rot in the pit he lies in. Vlash Rosewood, elf of old and new. Bryce Cousland, Alexander Elme', the very nice Templar recruit, Greagoir, and so many more I cannot recall. Men are a means of survival. Aianna and I would have starved if not for Rosewood's gullible nature, his own child would not have rejoined our people, and Daralis would never have learned how to handle a blade. But men serve an even greater purpose than providing seed and protection._

_Once again the Templars have taken Aianna away from me the day before yesterday and Daralis left this morning for Amaranthine before sun up. Thinking that I would not know she was leaving. My poor daughters seem to think that I am an idiot. But regardless of what my children think of me, I know that they love me. Now I am alone in this Alienage that has proven to be very hostile towards me as an outsider. _

_The girls, bless their hearts, believe that they are helping their mother; this isn't entirely the case. The coin they have given me has managed to find its way into the funding of searching for a long-lost friend and lover. In my old age, my mind is now corrupted with thoughts of reaching out to old ties, hoping that I may rekindle a past that I thought I would never want. Maybe this is what it means to be old, I'm not sure. I'm not so sure of anything anymore, besides regret._

_It seemed foolish then, taking my daughter and running off to the Dalish with that man. Things would most likely be a lot different than they are. Again, my selfish choices have managed to find their way back. Daralis would have been born elven, like Aianna, and not felt like such an outcast bastard child. Aianna would never have been taken to the Circle of Magi. She would have been embraced by the Dales, possibly even made a Keeper to the clan eventually. I never should have been so determined and stubborn to keep my daughter 'safe'._

_I didn't ask for this life. It's the choices I've made that have damned Aianna and Daralis to their fates. I was foolish, naïve. Because of these choices, I've blatantly disregarded the only thing my mother asked of me: to never have children. But isn't that the true meaning of a Dayes? Slaves of the Archons, wives of the Shartans, forever proud, forever damned? How is it possible to be so prideful as a slave? Was it because we were the most loyal, the most faithful to our masters? Or was it simply because we were the most convenient? _

_Whatever pitiful legacy we have, I shame it. Too afraid to pick up a blade again. Fooling my children into some kind of sick codependency so they would never leave me. During those times, I did what I thought was best for me, not what was best for my daughter. I've sacrificed my first child for my second, and I didn't even deserve the third. I am terrified that Aianna has become me. I see it in her eyes every day. Her bloodlust, her promiscuity, thievery, manipulation, everything about her is me. _

_Daralis is normal. She is my joy; my redemption for everything I've done to cause Aianna pain. I can't help but to fear that Aianna's presence will destroy that. The innocence, the positive attitude, humility, and the grace that no man deserves to have. They both have the power and mentality to lead; but Aianna has the ability to change others around her. Her charismatic charm infects everything she touches, both good and bad. Her drive scares me. I've seen Aianna make a Templar apologize to her for accusing her of being a mage!_

_With any luck, the Joining will kill my first and spare my second. Maker help me. _


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

So far so good…

9:31 Dragon – Deep Roads

The small group, consisting of Nathaniel in lead and Daralis, Aianna, and Carver in tow, had been traveling down in the depths of the deep roads for twenty-six days straight into after traveling through Kal'Hirol. The tunnels they walked were no wider than six feet across. Nathaniel had told them the tunnels had been dug by the darkspawn years ago when they had taken Kal'Hirol. Not to forget Gillis, a young dwarf warrior, the only other recruit to survive the joining, the one that had remained mostly silent the entire way. The dwarf had the traditional dwarven beard; the color of coffee mixed with just a pinch of milk. The heavy plated armor he wore was of decent quality and matched the colossal war hammer he carried.

Carver had proven himself to be an idiot in both sisters' eyes. His constant advancements toward Daralis and gawking looks Aianna caught him giving her was beginning to wear both sisters thin. Aianna had her suspicions the only women Carver had ever tasted were paid and the massive great sword he carried was over a sign of a small disposition.

"Master Nathaniel," Carver called from the back of the group, his eyes still lingering at Aianna's hindquarters. "We've been walking for nearly a day, you think we could stop and rest a bit?" Nathaniel abruptly stopped his fast pace and turned to shoot the entire party a dry stare. Silence fell over the four while Nathaniel continued to glare toward Carver, who was now slowly sinking behind Aianna.

""Fine," Nathaniel spoke turning back to the darkness then taking a seat against the narrow tunnel wall. Everyone but Gillis sighed with relief for a break, finding their own places to rest. Gillis moved past Daralis & Aianna to the rear near Carver.

"What an odd little dwarf…" Aianna sighed shaking her head while she and Daralis watched Gillis push Carver aside and sit down with his back to the group. "He hasn't said nearly two words to me since we left the Vigil."

"It's because he thinks elves are scary," Daralis smiled reaching into her sack to retrieve some dried rabbit meat. She broke the hard jerk in half then handed one piece to Aianna.

"How do you know that?" Aianna asked biting into the tuff strip of meat and she quickly pondered if this is what leather tasted line.

"Because he told me…"

"What?" Aianna coughed, "When did he tell you that?"

"Does it really matter, sister?" Daralis shook her head and yawned in between bites of her own strip. "Let us just sleep while we can before our 'leader' decides to make us move again."

Aianna opened her eyes slowly to the low cracking sound of fire and felt a sharp stab of hunger pangs in her torso, letting her know she needed to eat. She'd had the dream again. She was always standing alone in the darkness on a cliff's edge, wounds and blood covering her body, and black evil figures coming toward her, and a swell of disfigured bodies at her feet. 

Daralis had fallen asleep against her sister's shoulder and the young mage sluggishly pulled herself away. Daralis's head now rested on her own shoulder as Aianna stood to her feet. Behind them, Carver was snoring loudly and he was spread out along the floor of the tunnel where the party rested. Gillis still sat alone with his back to them; Aianna assumed he, too, was sound asleep.

She attempted to rub the grogginess from her eyes as she turned back the front of the party. Nathaniel sat silently against the wall smoking a small wooden pipe, a tiny fire at his feet. Aianna decided to join him, for the mere fact to warm her hands by the fire. She leisurely shuffled her way toward Nathaniel and sat down next to him. Nathaniel said nothing; watching her from the corner of her eye. 

Aianna clasped her torso trying to quiet the sudden sound of her stomach roaring from hunger. She licked her lips, tasting salt from her earlier sustenance of rabbit meat. But she sighed, raising her hands to the fire. Nathaniel reached into his satchel on his belt and pulled a small dark green wrap that fit into the palm of his hand. It was tied with an unusual multiple color ribbon. He untied the ribbon, opening the wrap and the sudden smell of chocolate caught the mage's attention. Aianna watched him intently as Nathaniel revealed five pieces of square candies in his hand. Putting his pipe down next to his boot Nathaniel then extended his hand to offer her the candies before stealing one for himself. 

"Take one," Nathaniel urged her, shaking the chocolates and Aianna reluctantly did what he asked. She bit into the candy and almost gasped by the familiar taste as it brought back several lost memories. "It isn't bad is it?"

"No," Aianna shook her head, finishing the small candy. "I've had these before. Once on my tenth birthday I found a whole bag full of these candies stuffed under my pillow. That's when I was in the tower…"

"Are you sure?" Nathaniel asked eating a second piece of chocolate. "These are Antivan chocolates." Aianna again nodded before Nathaniel tied the wrap up once more and tossed it to her. "You can have the rest, mage." 

"I have a name…" Aianna groaned taking small wrap into and opening it again to stuff the last two pieces of candy into her mouth. "Maker I am starving…and thank you." Nathaniel said nothing and only nodded once again reaching into his satchel.

"Take the rest of these," he handed her larger wrap and the smell of sugar cookies. "I am friends with the Vigil's baker." Aianna was left speechless taking the new white wrap from Nathaniel's hands and almost tearing it open. "I believe you will want them more than I." Aianna ate a few of the cookies to satisfy the aching in her stomach while Nathaniel returned to his pipe. After a few moments Nathaniel felt Aianna's head rest against his shoulder. 

"Mage…"Nathaniel nudged her softly and looking down to her to find that Aianna had fallen back asleep. He was tempted to shake the mage awake and away from him. But he continued to look down at her, her eyes closed tightly. Pale skin like moonlight, dark black hair light a starless night, and her full face and figure could still be admired in darkness. She was neither pointy nor prickly like most elves and Nathaniel idly wondered if she looked like her mother. He continued to watch her in the darkness as she slept until sleep finally took him too.

* * *

"Dayes, Carver, Gillis, mage…up with you." Nathaniel spoke loud enough to echo down the tunnel as he stomped out his fire. A groggy Aianna opened her eyes to find her sister was already on her feet. Daralis extended her sister a hand up and she pulled Aianna to her feet nodding for Aianna to walk in front.

"Why don't you go first Dara?" Aianna asked in a low whisper as she stretched her arms upward. Daralis shook her head slowly and placing her pointer finger over her lips. The young rogue slowly looked over toward Howe who was already leading onward. Aianna merely shrugged throwing her sack over her shoulder and followed Nathaniel's lead.

"We should reach our destination soon," Nathaniel spoke as he cleared his throat, holding his torch close to the wall of the tunnel. Aianna noticed indentions in the wall that looked like claw marks and she gulped hard.

"Exactly where are we going?" Daralis asked with almost a foul tone that even made Aianna turn around and give her sister a bewildered look. But Daralis merely ignored Aianna's glance, her eyes remaining narrowed, staring cruelly at Nathaniel. 

"Dayes, you'll see it when we get there." Nathaniel answered ignoring her tone and continued to lead them down deeper into the darkness. But Daralis was not satisfied with his answered and merely snorted a sarcastic laugh. "Do you have something you want to add, Dayes?"

"Cousland." Daralis answered and Nathaniel stopped once again but keeping his back to them. "Why not just call me Cousland, Howe." Daralis spat out his name, spitting on the ground as if his name left a horrid taste in her mouth. Aianna spun around again shooting her sister a confused look. "Or does calling me Dayes ease your guilt?" 

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Dara?" Aianna asked in utter disarray of the current situation. "I hate to point out that I think Howe would knock you on your ass and…" 

"Shut up!" Nathaniel yelled turning to both women, a livid strain in his eyes. "Both of you shut the fuck up right now!" Nathaniel handed Aianna the torch as he pushed his way between them. Aianna watched powerless as Nathaniel clasped Daralis's arm. The young rogue tried hide the pain displayed on her face to no avail. 

"Go ahead, Howe…" 

"Shut up!" Nathaniel yelled once more shaking Daralis as everyone continued to watch. "I had nothing to do with your father's death and you can take that any way you want…" Nathaniel groaned trying to calm himself. "That is all in the past. Right now I am your commander and you will follow my orders. There are at least fifty darkspawn at the end of this tunnel and you will die if you refuse to listen to me…Do you understand?" 

Daralis nodded slowly holding back tears as Nathaniel released her. Daralis touched her arm tenderly where Nathaniel had grasped her. He made his way past Aianna, taking the torch from her and shaking his head in annoyance. 

They group pressed on further down the dark tunnel with haste and weapons drawn. They emerged at the end of the tunnel to a huge opening. Bits of morning sunlight beamed in through the ceiling, displaying the thousands of spider webs that covered the walls. Daralis moved closer to her sister, rotating her daggers nervously in her hand. 

"Don't worry about giant spiders," Carver whispered to the sisters licking his lips with anticipation. "These webs are old, and I wouldn't be surprised if the darkspawn ate them all."

"Ancestors!" Gillis shrieked from behind and group of wardens were met with the hissing of a giant thaig spider biting the dwarf in the neck. Before any of them could react, the spider cradled Gillis's motionless body in its hairy legs and wrapped the dwarf in a silk cocoon. Nathaniel aimed his bow, and took a fast shot toward the spider but missed as the spider disappeared into the darkness above them, taking the cocoon with it. 

"Holy shitberries in basket…" Aianna's jaw dropped as through the darkness she caught the sight of shadowy figures approaching the small group. Gurgling growls, metal scraping the floor, a horrible stench clung to the air as the figures began to take form. Monsters in the shape of men with greyish green skin, sharp teeth, and hairless. Their very presence reeked of despair and sin. Daralis vomited to the awful smell, Aianna almost wanting to as well. The mage gulped hard grasping her staff tightly.

"Do not be afraid." Howe spoke firmly drawing his bow once more. "I will take out the two emissaries in the back. Carver you and Daralis will handle the stragglers and Aianna will handle the group thralls." 

"There are five…four of us….are you kidding me?" Daralis wailed as Nathaniel took the first shot, striking an emissary between the eyes in mid-cast. Aianna was stricken with a powerful fear that left her paralyzed. She shook violently and her eyes were widened as the horde marched closer. "Aianna! CAST something! They are heading this way!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 

Power in Blood

9:31 Dragon – Deep Roads 

"AIANNA!" Daralis howled once more dropping one of her daggers and slapping her elven sister across the face. Aianna gasped returning to reality to be met with her sister's petrified face. Nathaniel continued to fire arrow after arrow toward the gang of advancing darkspawn while Carver had moved forward cleaving the heads of the closer thralls.

"Dara…"Aianna softly whispered slowly reaching for the dropped dagger at their feet and into her trembling hand. "You need to move…just…move…" Daralis nervous backed away from Aianna toward the fray.

"Dayes!" Nathaniel called to Daralis. "You heard your sister! Advance to the front with Carver and watch each other's backs!" The young rogue reluctantly turned to face the horde pulling her sword from her side. "Mage! If you actually plan on doing some crowd control, now would be a good time!"

Daralis forced herself forward in full stride. The young rogue joined Carver's side, forcing her sword through the throat of one of the oncoming darkspawn. The creature gurgled, falling backwards to the ground. Two more creatures drew closer with jagged long swords and battered shields. Daralis swallowed her fear, clashing both of her blades against the creatures'. Carver's massive blade severed one of darkspawn's limbs and Daralis curved her free blade into the skull of the other killing it instantly. 

Aianna dropped her sack to ground and slammed her staff into the dirt beneath her feet. Nathaniel glanced over to her between shots to see the mage holding the dagger over her heart. She closed her eyes tightly, sweat pouring down her neck. 

"Shit…this is going to hurt…" Aianna whispered clenching her teeth firmly together and thrust the dagger into her chest. The blade pierced deep into her, piercing her heart. Screaming, Aianna pulled the dagger from her chest and tossed it to the ground. She felt a dull throbbing around the wound that quickly increased in intensity that consumed her whole body in pain. Aianna screamed, fighting to hold herself upright while blood gushed from the open lesion.

Breathing heavy and coughing blood, Aianna compelled herself to focus. The blood from her body formed a dark red aura of energy around her that pulsed to the beat of her own heart. With each pulse the energy extended further outward toward the horde. With a final scream in pain the ground turned the red color of the aura and the thirty some darkspawn that remained stood motionless. They became paralyzed in blood magic, the spell slowly draining them of their own blood. The remainder of the group stopped in astonishment watching the darkspawn groan in pain and trapped. 

"KILL THEM!" Aianna screamed fighting to hold the massive group. "I'm using my own blood to fuel the spell. Gaaaahhhhhhhh!" The mage collapsed to her knees, wailing in pain. Daralis began to cut down the paralyzed darkspawn, slicing their heads from their shoulders. Nathaniel drew his own daggers and followed suit. The creatures' death cries echoed through the cave as they were cut down. After what seemed like an eternity the last darkspawn fell to Carver's blade. Aianna dropped the spell and grabbed her bleeding wound tightly as she cradled her head against her knees. 

Daralis felt blood plastered to her face and arms. Though the darkspawn where all dead their vial stench still clung to the air and Daralis could taste it as she fought to catch her breath. The young rogue turned her attention to Aianna across the cave. The elf was whimpering in pain, a warm blue right flowing from her hands into her chest. The magic flowed from her hands to the open wound in her chest. Aianna could feel the lesion repair deep in the pit of her abdomen and outward toward the surface of her skin.

"Aianna…" Daralis whispered under her breath as she bolting toward her sister. The magic fade around the mage's body and collapsed on to her back wheezing in pain. Daralis reached her sister's side falling to one knee and was astonished to find Aianna's wound had vanished and all that remained was a freshly healed scar.

"Damn…I guess I over did it?" Aianna smiled up to her sister. The mage was drained of mana, energy and blood but not of her humor. "Maybe less stabbing and more cutting would have been better than that?"

"Shitberries?" Daralis laughed wiping a foul mixture of sweat and blood from her brow. "It is a little more like fuckberries don't you think?"

"I don't give a damn about the berries, Dara." Aianna laughed a hint of pain still in her face as she grasped her torso tightly. "Just fucking help me up." Daralis pulled Aianna up from her back and pulled her sister's arm around her neck. The young rogue pulled them both to their feet and realized her sister could not stand on her own.

"What in the Void did you think you were doing, mage?" Nathaniel yelled joining the sisters, anger flaring up in his eyes. Daralis and Aianna glanced at each other, then shot Nathaniel their own confused looks; Daralis's with a bit more resentment than Aianna's. The mage opened her mouth to speak but Nathaniel cut her off. "Just like a mage to do something impulsive in a moment of desperation."


End file.
